


Ascension

by Entwinedlove



Series: Concentric [5]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Adventure, Alternate Universe - Steampunk, Alternate Universe - Victorian, F/M, Gen, Greek and Roman Mythology - Freeform, Rape/Non-con Elements, Religious Imagery & Symbolism, Violence, dante's inferno
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-17
Updated: 2017-09-23
Packaged: 2018-12-30 21:09:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 33,744
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12117285
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Entwinedlove/pseuds/Entwinedlove
Summary: "Death is but the next great adventure."Our heroes find themselves in the world of the living once more but their memories can only take them so far. What does it truly mean to get a second chance? This is the final story in the Concentric trilogy. Read "The First Circle" and "Harrowing" first!





	1. Introductions

When James woke up again he felt completely lost. He didn't remember falling asleep or anything beyond walking and the horrible pain of having a boulder strapped to his back. Well, he supposed that was a lie; he remembered the beautiful artwork showing scenes of people being humble. He also felt lost because he was upright and walking behind someone.

"Congratulations on the promotion, Captain Potter," the man turned, speaking to James as he opened a door leading outside.

"Thank you," James answered. He decided he'd just go along with whatever was happening and hoped he wouldn't screw up too much. As the man ushered him through the doors he took a quick look down to figure out what the heck he was wearing.

A long navy blue frock coat with gold buttons and shiny little pins on his chest and lapels. Brown trousers and knee boots. He assumed there was probably a hat that went with the outfit. It just felt like it came with a hat.

The doors opened and James felt the rush of warm, salty air that meant he was at the seashore. He blinked against the light of the early morning sun and took in the area around him. He was standing on a wooden dock that stretched out far into the distance. What stopped him short and made his jaw drop, however, was the massive things moored to the dock.

"Welcome to the Shipyard, Captain. Did they not tell you that you get to pick an airship with your promotion?" the man teased him and followed it with a hearty laugh. The man, who on closer inspection wore a set of coveralls that had the word 'manager' embroidered on the left chest pocket, grinned and gestured with his head towards the ships. "Do you want a tour or do you know what style you want?"

James blinked and remembered that he wasn't just watching this, he was actually living it, and shook his head to clear his thoughts. "Why don't you give me a short overview from here. What do you recommend?"

"Well, the different ships mean different types of jobs, see? That one in the back with the black balloon is a galleon. That one can get you to the Caribbean and back on a full lift. Though since it can go the distance, that means you'll be deployed for longer. Great if you don't have a family waiting for you back home. Deployment in the Caribbean means fighting pirates, too, so it's outfitted with the latest magic and weapons tech."

"Magic?" James asked half surprised that this man knew about magic and half wondering where his wand might be stuffed in this uniform.

"Didn't think I knew 'bout magic, mate?" the manager laughed. "It's the shiny little doodah on your lapel there, that seven-pointed star? Means you're with Her Majesty's _Special_ _Division_. 'Sides, I'm a squib. Got a couple wizards on my construction team, though. Have to have someone to work the permanent floating charms or what-have-you." He paused looking back out over the ships and squinting when a cloud allowed the sun to slip through for a moment. "All these boats ship out with their own four-man. After you decide your ship, your CO will assign your deployment and the remaining men needed to fill out a running crew. Some of them might be Muggles, though."

"Four-man?"

"If I didn't know you, James, I'd think you hadn't been dying to be an airship captain since you were eleven," he laughed. "It's fine. Many a new captain are so flabbergasted that they got this far in the program they don't know up from down for a while. Good thing these babies can float _and_ fly. A four-man is a crew of four men that are assigned to a specific ship. Master Navigator, Engineer, Wandmaker, and Boatswain. If later, you and your crew are transferred to a different ship, even of the same class, you get a different four-man."

"Right, right," James said, nodding. Somewhere in the back of his mind, those words did sound familiar. "So, what was the name of that big one in the back?"

"Thinking about fighting pirates, then?" He grinned, "That one's HMA _Voldemort_. One of the lads says it's French for 'flees from death'."

James started coughing to hide his shock.

The manager laughed and patted him hard on the back. "Not my choice neither, I told 'em to name it something in English since she's an English ship, but they insisted."

James shook his head. "No, no, I don't think I could captain a ship called that. Might as well have called it the Dark Lord," he joked.

The manager, however, looked thoughtful. "I'd say it has a better ring to it than _Voldemort_. Might have to see what the lads think. Would have to go through a lot of paperwork to change it, but seeing as how nobody's wanted that one and she's been sitting out here for a couple of months now, a new name might be the thing to get her in the skies. She's our only galleon, though."

"How about this one, the one with the red and gold balloon?" James asked, pointing to a mid-sized ship. She wasn't the largest but she wasn't the smallest either.

"HMA _Marauder_. She's got a sister already in the skies called _Mischief_. Great carrack there. Deployment isn't fighting pirates, but it's not close shore patrol either. You'll spend a bit of time down in the Mediterranean or up in the Baltic on a ship like that. Diplomatic sorts of missions."

James smiled, thinking to himself that if Remus or Sirius were in this time and place, they'd probably be on a ship called _Marauder_ or _Mischief_. Though neither felt exactly right. He decided to get the full little tour as there was only one type of ship left to talk about. "And if I wanted that little one with the green sails?"

"It's a little caravel, you'd be patrolling the coast, mainly in the south. The one with the green sails is the HMA _Harriet_."

"That one. I want that one," James said. Not even thinking about it. Green sails the colour of his son's eyes _and_ a feminine form of his son's name? Of course, he wanted that one, even if it was the tiniest ship. Even if it meant his deployment in Her Majesty's Royal Navy, _Special Division_ wasn't anything adventurous.

The manager nodded and brought his hand to his mouth to whistle loudly. James turned to see a young boy, not even seven, come running over from where he was lurking near the building. When he was close the manager gave him a job to do, "Go get the four-man for _Harriet_ from the barracks; tell 'em their new captain's here." The little boy ran in the other direction as fast as his colt-like limbs could take him. The manager grinned as he watched and then turned back to James. "I remember when you were just a little one, running around doing errands while your Dad was doing business. Always knew you'd end up in the skies somehow. Shouldn't have been surprised that you followed in your old man's footsteps and joined the Navy."

There were footsteps behind them and they turned to greet the four men coming toward them. Three of them were average and forgettable, but the fourth was tall with dark wavy hair, grey eyes and sharp cheekbones. He reminded James of Sirius but there was something different about the man's eyes.

"Captain Potter, this is your Master Navigator Beauregard Walsh. Beau, Captain James Potter."

"Pleasure to meet you, Beauregard," James greeted him.

"Captain," he answered, his accent that of post aristocracy that Sirius always had, no matter how normal he tried to carry himself. "And Beau, please, only my mother calls me Beauregard." Beau introduced James to the others. Jones, Smythwick, MacDuffie.

"So, you have a family you want to stay close to home for, Captain?" MacDuffie asked.

James smiled and answered, "I've got a Lily."

"Ah yes, the beautiful Lily Potter," Beau said. "How is your sister doing these days, Captain? I think I got a spot on her dance card the Season she debuted. But that's been, what? Four years ago now? No suitors good enough for her? Or maybe it's that spitfire personality of hers scaring them all away. Not many men willing to wed a firecracker no matter how much fun she is to dance with."

Beau's words rattled in James's brain, but James was too busy being shocked. Sister? Sure enough, hundreds of images and memories and sounds flooded his mind, all of redheaded, green-eyed Lily, his sister. There were still memories from his former life, more carnal memories of bare flesh and bliss, but he felt awkward thinking of them and pushed them away. Instead, choosing to answer Beau's veiled insults. "I don't mind if my Lily never marries. She can do as she pleases as long as she never settles for someone who isn't worthy of her. When I retire from the Navy she can join me in the skies if she wants."

The manager laughed and changed the topic, "Well, the day's only so long and we've got paperwork to get started on to get this rig in your name, Captain Potter. Navigator, men," he said, looking at the four men and nodding, dismissing them. When he and James walked away, he muttered, "Can't stand men who think it's fair game to insult a man's sister just because she hasn't finished being a kid yet. Sweet Lily is only twenty. Just cos she didn't give him the time of day aside from a single dance. Hmfph."

James agreed.

*** . * . ***

"Brother, Brother!" Hermione woke up in the middle of running towards... Apparently her brother. She let momentum carry her forward through a large door into a cavernous, dark space, not unlike a potions laboratory. When she saw who was standing at one of the tables in the room, she stopped and stared.

Severus Snape stood there staring at her, unreadable as always. "What, sister?" he snapped.

She could only continue to blink at him in confusion.

"Perhaps the parchment in your hand will remind you of whatever it was that you felt you needed to tell me so urgently that you had to burst into my lab." He gestured to the cauldron, beakers, and flasks set up in a complicated array on the table in front of him. "I'm busy."

Hermione looked down at the paper she was clutching.

_Miss Prince,_

_The Appointments Board in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, on behalf of Her Royal Majesty The Queen, officially welcomes you as a member of our Foreign Ambassadors Committee, Special Division. As such, you will be required to attend at least three meetings each month with Special Division dignitaries of other nations to promote peace and goodwill. Please speak with Magdalena Boswick at Twilfitt and Tattings, Diagon Alley about your uniform and formal robes for events._

_There is a mixed assembly for Ambassadors being held Saturday next, 10 September 1887 on the SkyShip Embassy in the airspace over the Island of Tortola in The British Virgin Islands. You are asked to attend though transportation to the Embassy is your responsibility._

_Congratulations on the appointment,_

_Orville Clemens  
Chairman of the Appt. Board, Foreign  & Commonwealth Office_

There was a postscript in a different handwriting that read, 'Hermione—I know how independent you are, but the upcoming assembly at the Embassy is formal and you will need an appropriate escort for a young lady such as yourself. —Winifred Langley.'

She looked back up at Severus, who had continued to look at her even though his potion was bubbling lightly underneath the alembic. "I've been appointed as an Ambassador in the Queen's government."

"To the _Special Division_ , of course," he added. "Mustn't forget the modifier designating our magic to those in the know. Congratulations, Hermione. Have you been given an assignment?"

"Next Saturday, I need an escort and transport to..." she looked back down at the parchment, "the Skyship Embassy, which will be in the airspace above the British Virgin Islands."

"I'll take care of the accommodations as long as you leave me alone while I'm in my lab. Do we have a deal?"

Hermione hesitated, so very confused. Was he the Severus she remembered? That she knew? It was obvious that this body had been living a life before she woke up in it. She didn't even know if she looked like she had in her previous life. All that she was truly certain of was that she had a different name and a different family. She nodded in agreement and left the room.

*** . * . ***

Hermione wandered the rest of the day. Learning—or rather, relearning—the house and gardens. When her stomach growled she found the kitchen and a little house-elf in a pink dress and white apron making dinner.

"Mistress Hermione!" the elf squeaked, "You mustn't come to dinner in your day dress. Upstairs, upstairs. Petal has sets out an evening gown for you to wear for dinner. Master Prince has asked guests for dinner and you and Master Severus is asked to attend proper. You is knowing how your father is. Go, go!"

Hermione blinked at the elf, just as confused as she had been with Severus earlier. Instead of staying to ask questions, she headed up the staircase and down the short corridor to her bedroom. She didn't really know how she knew it was her room, but after questioning her mind and coming up hazy, she assumed based on the evening gown lain across the bed. It was burnt sienna in colour, something Hermione doubted would go with her colouring. She shrugged and shut the door. Her hands moving with muscle memory to remove her bonnet, unbutton her bodice and untie her overskirt and underskirt.

When she had redressed she turned and looked in the mirror. Her brown hair was dark. Too dark. She took a step closer to look at her features more closely. Black hair, brown eyes so dark they looked black. She had a longer nose and thinner lips. She looked like Severus, but she still felt like she was Hermione inside. Like there was something undeniably her even with slightly different features.

She took a step back and looked at the picture she made. Her dark hair was pulled up, with curls spilling down around her face. The dress was more red than orange once it was on her, and the underskirt had a layer of cream coloured lace. There were feathers on the shoulder and the skirt. It was much more revealing than the dress she had been wearing. Now her shoulders, arms, and the top of her chest were on display. Despite her earlier hesitation on the colour, it looked well with her pale skin and didn't make her look washed out. She turned to walk out of the room, but a squeak from behind her stopped her.

"Mistress! I is here to do your hair!" the elf said, standing tall. Her dress was a darker pink than before and she wasn't wearing an apron.

"Weren't you wearing-"

"Oh, Mistress Hermione is playing games again! Pretending not to know Petal or confuse her with her sister Lace! At least you've never pretended to confuse us with our brother Pan out in the gardens," the elf said, teasing her.

Hermione nodded and let herself be directed to the vanity table along the wall. She sat and the house-elf dragged a second chair behind her and let down her curls only to put them back up in a slightly different way. She added a tiny hat that matched the lace of the dress. It was also decorated with a matching red-orange feather.

"All done!" Petal shouted with glee. "Now, Mistress Hermione must be on her bestest behaviour. Master Prince has asked guests for dinner."

Hermione nodded slowly. Both house-elves she had encountered had cautioned her to be on good behaviour and act properly. She was beginning to wonder how the Hermione of this life typically behaved. There was a knock on the door and she could hear Severus's voice clearly through the wood.

"Are you dressed for dinner, Hermione?" he asked.

She stood, took one last glance in the mirror and Petal nodded in the reflection. Hermione opened the door and was met with Severus in more formal attire than his frockcoat. He was wearing a dark charcoal grey instead of his normal black. He offered his arm to her and she rested hers on top and he escorted her down the stairs toward the dining room.

"Severus...?" She asked, hesitating.

"Hmm?" He responded, stopping before entering the dining room so she could talk.

"Do you... umm, remember?" she whispered.

His eyebrows raised. "Remember? Remember what? I remember distinctly asking Mother to return you for a baby brother when you were born. I don't remember, but I've been told I was the best big brother a little sister could ask for even though I didn't like you at first. I remember Mother dying of fever when I was seven and you were three. I remember when Father let you name the newest house-elves and thinking you silly for the names you chose. I remember our first airship voyage and how scared you were of flying. I remember when I got my wand and how jealous you were and when you got yours and how nervous I was to have you join me at Hogwarts." He paused, looking her up and down. "I remember the both of us finishing school. But I don't remember you growing up. When did that happen?"

She smiled at his gentle teasing, both more at ease and more nervous. Did he not remember their previous life? Was he not 'awake,' like she was?

"And I do seem to remember that Father has invited guests," he said and then sighed. "I know you're not going to like them, but please, humour Father. He knows he can't actually arrange a marriage for you with the new legislation that's recently passed so he's doing the best he can by introducing you to young gentlemen, and their families, that he thinks will suit."

Her smile slid off her face. "What?"

He rolled his eyes and tilted his head at the door. "Let's just go in and get this over with," he said and then turned and opened the door, leading her into the dining room.

Dinner was awkward. Her father was older than she would have thought, but he had a sharp tongue and matching wit. She liked him immediately, though she wasn't exactly sure if that was the new Hermione's memories bleeding into her current thoughts and colouring her opinion of him. She learned through conversation that his title was 'Master' and it wasn't just a house-elf's honorific. He held both a mastery in mediwizardry and a Muggle degree in medicine. 'Master' just happened to be the highest honorific in the Wizarding world because they didn't have 'doctors.'

The suitor was the younger of two brothers, both with dark auburn hair and light eyes. She didn't recognize either of their names or their faces from her previous life or her time in Limbo. The eldest, Wolfgang Savage, worked in the Ministry of Magic in the Department of Magical Law, and the younger, Sebastian, was finishing up his mastery of Transfiguration and set to teach at Hogwarts in the Transfiguration Department. They were both respectable gentlemen and relatively attractive, but the fact that they had agreed to come to dinner to be introduced to the young Miss Hermione Prince who was in need of a husband soured any attraction she had to either of them.

Hermione smiled and bit her tongue throughout the evening. She even suggested after-dinner drinks in the parlour like a proper hostess, even though she wasn't sure from where the thought had come. She wondered if these 'other' thoughts would assimilate over time or if the awareness that she was currently experiencing would instead slip into the 'other.'

When the gentlemen finally left Hermione leaned back in her seat and rested her shoulders against the upholstery, slouching as best she could in the corset she was wearing.

Her father scoffed to get her attention. "Sit up Hermione, if you tilt your pelvis just right the corset will act like the back of a chair and you can slouch sitting up," he informed her. Then more to himself but still loud enough for both his children to hear he said, "Just as wild and willful as your mother. Hated that blasted thing. Scandalized the neighbours when I told her she didn't have to wear one while she was pregnant." He had a wistful look in his eyes as he talked about the woman Hermione could not remember.

Hermione pulled herself up using the arms of her chair and tried slouching while sitting up as her father has instructed. It took a bit of wiggling, but when she was finally able to sit and slouch she grinned.

"So," her father started, "I thought you'd like the younger of the two men. Can't get much more boring than if he were to be teaching history. But you seemed more attracted to the elder."

"I did not!" Hermione retorted immediately.

Severus smirked at her from his armchair.

She glared at her brother and but her answer was for her father. "I was merely more interested in the elder Mr Savage's work than in the younger."

"I'm going to figure out the proper combination of traits for a son-in-law eventually, Hermione. You could at least help an old man out and confirm whether you fancied one over the other or not."

"Father!"

He laughed and she knew he had been teasing her. "So what's this I hear from your brother about you being an Ambassador?"

*** . * . ***

Regulus blinked. Disorientated was an understatement. There was blue beneath him and blue above and he wasn't sure if he was upside down or right side up. He tried to turn his head to see, still shocked that he _could_ see, but he heard his brother's voice, "Not yet, Reg, I've got two more straps to tighten up."

Remembering the pain that had come from straps being tightened over his body by his brother the last time he was awake, he started to panic and he jerked away from the direction his brother's voice had been.

"Reggie, be still, or you'll fall out of the ship before your whatever-you-named-it is on. Flight suit or wings gadget thing. I don't know." Regulus felt a leather strap tighten over his bicep with a yank. "All done, now you can jump off. Ready? Good," he said without waiting for a reply.

Regulus didn't know what was happening but he felt two hands on his back give him a shove. He tipped forward, losing his balance and fell over. Except he didn't land on the ground or even directly in water. No, instead he found himself moving quickly through lots of air. Without thinking, without knowing what he was doing, he flicked his wrist and felt the familiar surge of his magic as he grasped his wand. He cast the first thing to come to mind: " _Ascendio!_ "

His body turned and righted and he gained a temporary lift from the fall off whatever it was he had been standing on. And then another spell came to mind, one that he'd never even heard of, possibly making it up on the spot, " _Volao Alae!_ " And the mechanism that was strapped to his back came to life. Suddenly he wasn't falling he was bobbing in the air. He turned his head and saw a giant pair of silver wings spread out, flapping slowly behind him. They were shaped like a bird's wings but made of metal if the shininess was any indication. He looked back around, trying to figure out what the hell was going on.

Below him spread the ocean, turquoise and cerulean. He turned and his entire body turned as well. The wings moving in a way metal probably wouldn't have normally. The wings made a slight clinking sound as they shifted and he made a mental note to work on feather placement. Behind him was land, the coast of one of the British Isles he assumed. He looked up and his jaw dropped. Above him, blocking out the sun was an enormous black balloon. It was long and oval and on its sides were sails that spread out like wings. What shocked him the most was the netting and heavy ropes that tied the balloon and sails to the wooden pirate ship beneath it.

"Reg? Reggie! Regulus!" Sirius's voice could barely be heard coming from the deck of the wooden ship. " _Accio_ broom!" Sirius shouted and before Regulus had much time to blink, Sirius was zooming over the ship and nosediving toward the ocean.

"Sirius!" Regulus called, laughing when his brother pulled up on his broomstick handle so much that he bounced in the air.

Sirius looked at him with wide, awestruck eyes. "Merlin, Reg, they're beautiful!"

Regulus grinned and spun, not even thinking about how the wings seemed to just know and understand how he wanted to move through the air.

"Reg!" Sirius started laughing, an amused, shocked, still awestruck-laugh. "I can't believe you actually made them work. I've been ragging you for months about how they'd never... And look at you, defying everything! I bet they're more comfortable for long flights than a broom between your thighs, even with a Cushioning Charm."

Regulus nodded and decided to test the mechanism that he had apparently created. He dipped and flew around Sirius, spinning quickly and shooting above him, then swooping down within arm's reach of his brother.

Sirius rocked from the air current and grabbed his broom tighter. "Careful, they might move like Azrael, but you've got a much greater wingspan than him. Not to mention if you clip me with those things, I might lose an arm."

Regulus somehow knew that Azrael was his Animagus form. His peregrine falcon Animagus form. He looked at an empty patch of sky and focused his intent towards it, he could feel the wings flap hard and fast to move him up towards his goal. When he stopped to look around he realized he was even higher than the balloon of the airship. Sirius was hovering close to the level of the ship. He looked like a tiny doll in the distance.

"Don't fly too high, Icarus!" Sirius yelled up at him.

Regulus laughed and nosedived. He closed his eyes and instinctively cast a Bubblehead Charm as he descended, his metal wings wrapping around his body protectively as he gained speed. He swooped and pulled out of the dive so close to the water than he felt it spray up and soak his trousers. He sped back up towards Sirius laughing in reaction to the immense adrenaline rush.

When he was within speaking distance of his brother again, he said, "This is amazing. You've got to experience this."

"Yeah, but you told me you wouldn't let me have my own set of wings. That since they were a prototype you probably wouldn't be making a second pair," Sirius said. He didn't sound like he was pouting but there was clear disappointment in his voice.

"Yeah, but that was before. You've got to feel this. It's so much better than a broom."

"Blasphemy!" Sirius pretended to be scandalized.

They laughed together and flew back towards the airship. Wherever they were and if Sirius was really the brother he remembered, he'd worry about later. Now he just knew that whatever was going on, everything would be all right.

*** . * . ***

Lily was giggling. It was a strange feeling to wake up giggling, but there she was, sitting very straight, hand covering her mouth, giggling with two other girls.

"Did you see his face when I told him yes to that waltz?" the girl on her left asked. She was very pretty with long, straight black hair and high cheekbones. Lily thought the girl looked remarkably like Sirius. "But then, of course, Daddy had to interrupt and tell poor Mr Mathers that as this was my first Season, I would not be allowed to waltz unless the gentleman in question spoke with him first."

Lily could feel the memory the girl was talking about bubble up to surface in her mind. She could see the gorgeous scarlet-coloured gown the girl had worn, see her father's disapproving look, and the stuttering young man who had asked the girl for a dance. It took a second longer for Lily to recall the girl's name. Calypso. Miss Calypso Black. Well, that explained the resemblance to Sirius, didn't it?

Lily shook the memory from her mind and listened to the two girls next to her continue to giggle and gossip about the ball. There was that strange feeling of memories bubbling and she let them come to her in bits and pieces.

The ball had been the last of the Season and now they were home in the country with her family. The two girls lived nearby and Lily lived in this house. Wrotham Park in Potters Bar, Hertfordshire. Owned by the retired Admiral Fleamont Potter of Her Royal Navy, _Special Division_ , and home to his wife Euphemia and their two children James and Lily. The thought struck her in the gut and Lily had no idea how she didn't visibly flinch and alert her two companions that something was wrong.

Brother.

James was her brother in this life. It was a strange feeling in her chest, but it wasn't misplaced or awkward. She had loved James. She still loved James. They had grown comfortable together even though they didn't grow old together. She still loved him, that feeling had just transmuted into something familial rather than romantic.

She looked at the girl on her right, wondering, hoping she would recognize her. She did. This was a younger Pandora Lovegood. Though in this life, it was back to her maiden name, Miss Pandora Greengrass. Blue eyes and hair that seemed to shimmer between a dark blonde and a light brown. Instead of the plump woman she had been, in this life, Pandora only carried a bit of childish fluffy in her face and arms. She had more curves than either Calypso or Lily, but they made her quite lovely in the silhouette of the times.

Lily decided that since she didn't know Calypso, that she should probably get Pandora alone before asking what she remembered from their time in Limbo. Lily felt her breath hitch as she briefly remembered a time after Limbo. Full of running and full of pain. That memory faded quickly and Lily was happy to let it.

"Is James going to be home this winter, Lily?" Calypso asked, bringing Lily back to the conversation.

Lily only had to relax her thoughts before the right answer came to her. "No, I don't believe so. When he wrote me last, he said he had been promoted and he would be getting a new assignment soon."

Pandora and Calypso both swooned in their seats. Pandora grinned, "Oh? Commander Potter is now a Captain? How dashing. I bet he chooses the assignment to go fight pirates in the Caribbean!"

"Can't you see it!" Calypso agreed and stood, pretending to swing a sword this way and that. "Swash-bucklers don't stand a chance against the magnificent Captain James Potter!"

Lily laughed with her friends as Calypso dropped back into her seat. "I can see it, though I hope he doesn't. I like having him close," she confessed.

"You're just too close to him for your own good, you'd think you were twins with how often you like to be in one another's company," Calypso teased.

"We're not that close," Lily told her. "But he does make me feel safe."

"I wish I had a brother," Pandora said with a sigh.

"I don't! Boys are good for flirting with but I don't think they'd be good to live with in close quarters," Calypso said.

Pandora gasped, "Surely you don't mean that! You want to get married. You told me so at the beginning of the Season."

"That was at the beginning. Then we got invited to all the balls and evening soirees and parties and the theatre! And I got all that attention from all of those men. Why would I want to get married and settled when I can go several Seasons and enjoy my time so?"

"But surely you'd still want to get married, after your third, or—umm," Pandora looked with wide eyes at Lily and corrected herself, "your fifth Season or so?"

Lily grinned and let the memories bubble up again. This had been her fourth Season, Pandora's second because she'd come out at seventeen, not sixteen, and Calyspo's first. No wonder she was still so excited and overwhelmed.

"Well, yes eventually. I'm really interested in what happens after the wedding!"

"Calypso!" Pandora said on a gasp, sounding scandalized. Lily could only try not to smirk knowingly.

"How about you, Lily?" Calypso asked.

"What about?"

"Are you hoping to marry? And aren't you interested in what happens on the wedding night?"

"I... yes, I suppose if someone asks next year, though I'm already getting too old," she hedged, trying to remember more of this life or details from her primary lessons in history from her last one. "I don't want to be an old maid."

"Pish posh," Pandora said. "I'm sure what with your father being a retired Admiral and your brother now a Captain, there's bound to be someone that would offer. An officer deployed with James, perhaps."

"Well, you've still got one more year, at least, before you're an old maid. Maybe next year you can try dresses with a more... titalating neckline?" Calypso offered. Lily and Pandora gasped in response and that set the three of them to giggling again.


	2. Crossroads

It had been nearly a week and James was finally getting into the groove of this new life. The first few times memories had rushed him he'd been disorientated but now he knew he could pull up any one of those memories at will without the rush.

That in itself was very important as he started his new job. Apparently, he had worked on an airship before but never captained one himself. He had gone one tour on each of the ship types and knew his role and what his responsibilities were already, he only had to think about it.

Since he had chosen the caravel, his responsibilities included keeping watch to the ocean for incoming airships and keeping watch inland for outgoing ones. He was to stop any ship and ask for documentation that showed they were vetted and approved to enter, or leave, British airspace. It was a boring sort of job, but he already knew he would get to return home at the end of the week for a weekend reprieve and would continue to get that reprieve two weekends a month for the duration of his tour unless called upon by his commanding officer.

"Private galleon entering airspace, Captain," one of the lookouts called down from where he had weaved himself into the rigging on the starboard side of the balloon.

James turned and looked out over the rail to see a giant black balloon that dwarfed the large wooden ship below it. The name of the ship was painted in white on her bow, _Celestia_ , and under that was a large seven-pointed star. The international symbol of magical folk. It denoted that everyone on board that ship was magical.

"Lower the inspection flag," James called, the name of the man in charge of that slipping his mind. He really needed to work on remembering names.

There was a loud hissing sound as a heavy rope and weight were loosed from their housing and the flags were dropped. Yellow and blue, Kilo, at the highest position indicating a need for communication and then the three flags Mike-Alfa-Bravo stitched together to indicate a rendezvous. In regards to airships, that meant the other ship was supposed to fold in their sails and lower into the water below. The _Celestia_ dropped their Charlie in affirmation and started losing altitude. Then they started hoisting their flag back up. After the standard half minute wait, James felt the sails of _Harriet_ start to tuck in and heard the cranks hoisting their own flags so they wouldn't drag into the water.

If they were strictly a naval ship, rendezvousing would be as easy as coming alongside one another. As airships, the balloons were too wide and got in the way so they had to disembark into a skiff to come aboard for inspections. It would have been much easier if James's crew were all magical, though, because then James and a wandman could just mount brooms and fly to the other ship to board it.

James tilted his head as his ears popped. He knew that was the signal to hold on to something so he reached out and held the rail. Within a minute the hull splashed into the water and the ship bounced as it levelled out. The ship creaked and groaned as the pressure of the water pushed against the hull and tested its watertightness. James spotted his boatswain, MacDuffie, two of his gunmen, and a group of seamen headed towards the stern to lower the jolly-boat into the water. It was a tedious process and as much as James liked flying, he thought it would probably be easier to just stay water-bound and tow the thing rather than hoist and lower it as needed.

James stood next to Beau as he gave the command to lower the anchor and Joe Bones, James's Sub-Lieutenant, joined them on the quarterdeck. When MacDuffie finally flipped the Jacobs ladder over the edge into the jolly-boat and started down, James looked to Joe, "She's yours." Joe nodded in acknowledgement.

To Beau, James teased, "Don't leave without me."

"Wouldn't dream of it," Beau answered.

James grabbed hold of the ladder and swung his leg over the rail and started down. He was the last one to board the tiny boat and he sat down and waited as his men rowed him towards the galleon they were to inspect. As they got closer, the crew of the _Celestia_ tossed their own Jacobs ladder over the side. The gunmen climbed up first and James followed. MacDuffie and the two seamen that pulled the oars would stay in the boat.

If all went as planned, the inspection visit would be short and non-hostile. James knew how ill-prepared a mixed crew like his would be if the visit, or any other, became hostile. He took a deep breath before taking the last few steps, preparing for the worst but hoping for the best.

The best didn't even begin to cover his elation as he pulled himself up over the rail and spotted two people he knew. A grin broke on his face.

"Sirius," he greeted and reached out to shake hands with him. "All right, mate?"

"All right," Sirius said. He smiled broadly and shook his hand. He was dressed in civilian clothes and James pulled up memories from this life about him. Born into money and power, just like his past life, but in this one, his mother had died in childbirth. His father didn't remarry. Sirius and his brother stayed close even when Sirius decided not to follow his father into politics.

" _Celestia_ is a beauty. She yours?" James asked.

"You could just ask for my papers, you know," Sirius told him, grinning. He offered up a dark brown, leather scroll case decorated elaborately.

James took it from him and opened it. As he glanced through the parchment—passports for every member of the crew, documentation of ship ownership, as well as paperwork that declared him a licensed business operator—he continued the conversation. "So what has you out of Britain?"

"Took eight well-paying customers to the Caribbean."

"Did you purchase any cargo while you were there?"

"Eight casks of rum," Sirius answered.

"I'll need to see and verify that," James told him. "And your passengers? Did they bring anything back on board?"

"You'll have to ask them, but to my knowledge, no."

James rolled the parchment back up and tucked it back into its weatherproof case and returned it to Sirius, who handed it to Regulus. James nodded a greeting at Regulus before he made his way towards the stern where he could see eight well-tailored guests all stood together. A quick glance around showed him that all of Sirius's crew were on deck and lining the rail, relaxed and at ease.

Only one person looked tense and nervous and that was one of the passengers. James started with the person farthest from the nervous looking young man. "Madam, Sir. I'm Captain James Potter, Her Majesty's Royal Navy, _Special Division_. May I see your passports? Did you purchase or bring anything on board with you while in the Caribbean?" They complied peacefully, confirming that they did not bring anything back with them. So did the next couple. The last was a group of four boys, young men, probably just out of Hogwarts. "Good morning, gentlemen," James greeted them. "May I see your passports?" They all passed them over. James checked each thoroughly, confirming his suspicions that they were just of age. "And did you purchase or bring anything back on board with you?" He asked. He looked each young man in the eye. They all held themselves stiffly, but the last man's left hand twitched repeatedly at his side. "Gentlemen?"

The twitchy fellow gave a side glance at his mates before gesturing like he wanted to speak to James alone. James nodded and took a few steps back, letting the boy come closer to him.

"Rochester, right?" James acknowledged him by name.

"Yes, sir," he stuttered.

"What did you purchase?"

"I, umm, well, we all went on this trip as a sort of celebration for finishing school, sir, and we... Well, we purchased women, sir."

"You mean you paid for the company of a woman for a few nights?"

"Yes sir," he said, nodding.

"And you left them where you found them, on the islands?"

The boy ducked his head and twitched again. "Well, no, sir, not all of them."

"You do know that it is illegal to bring someone into the country without going through the proper avenues for such, don't you? Especially if that someone is a prostitute?"

"Well, she's... She's not a prostitute... now."

James narrowed his eyes. "'Not a prostitute, now'?" he repeated.

"Well, no, sir. I—you see, I knew that I couldn't bring her legally—so, well, I married her."

James fought with himself to stop from smirking at the boy or raising his brows in response. He nodded twice. "Congratulations, though I'll need to meet with Mrs Rochester to issue her a temporary passport. Once you've docked, you need to go to your county seat and have her documented properly. Understood?"

The twitchy boy nodded frantically. "Yes, sir. Thank you, sir."

"You will stay on deck while I meet with Mrs Rochester. What cabin is yours?"

Rochester's eyes widened in panic but he tamped down the emotion quickly. "Oh, umm, yes, of course, sir."

"Your cabin?"

"Cabin six, sir," Rochester said.

"Good lad," James told him and walked back to Sirius.

Sirius's eyes were narrowed and he looked concerned but not worried.

"I'll need to see that cache of rum and I'll need to be let into cabin six, Sirius."

Sirius nodded and led the way down the stairwell. They went down three decks before Sirius slipped a keyring from his belt and unlocked a short, square door. Inside was the standard barrels of beer and eight small, wooden casks.

"Open one for me," James told him. Sirius complied, flicking his wand out and tapping the thick cork twice. It popped loudly in the small space.

"Want a cup?"

James leaned over and ran his finger along the inside of the hole. "That won't be necessary," he grinned at Sirius before sniffing his finger. Satisfied, he pulled a handkerchief from his pocket to wipe his finger on.

"What's the boy got in his cabin, James?" Sirius asked as he resealed the cask with his wand; he sounded much more mature than he previously had.

"A woman," James answered bluntly.

Sirius looked first shocked and then angry. "Those boys smuggled another person on board?"

"He says he married her and that she was previously a prostitute."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "That sounds like a match made in the bottom of a rum barrel," he turned to look James in the eye. "You think she's not along willingly, don't you?"

James nodded. "Boy looked panicked when I told him to stay on deck."

"Bloody fuck," Sirius said, running his hand through his black hair. "Come on, let's go see how bad this is."

They went up to the cabin deck and Sirius opened the door but didn't enter. The room was dark, but James could make out the two beds on opposite walls. On one, the sheets were rumpled. On the other, was a woman, dressed only in combinations, tied to the bed. Her eyes were wide as she stared up at him.

She shifted her legs to expose herself and James looked away but not before seeing too much dark, copper-coloured skin and thick black curls.

"I'm not sure what you're expecting, Miss, but I'm a Captain in the Queen's Royal Navy," James started, only glancing at her once to see she hadn't shifted again and her womanhood was still on display. "Can you cover yourself so I can untie you?"

He heard rustling and glanced back at her to see she had at least closed her legs and turned them to the side so all he saw was the unblemished smooth skin of her hip and rump. He swallowed and moved towards her. When he untied her hands she reached up and grabbed his lapel and pulled him into a kiss. He put his hands on her shoulders and pulled himself from her grasp. "Miss? Are you here against your will? I've got a gentleman upstairs that says he's married to you."

"Which one? They've all had a taste of me _pum-pum_ ," she said, her accent thick and her voice sensual.

"The man called Rochester. Did you and he sign a marriage licence?"

She made a dismissive gesture with her hand and crawled closer. At the end of the bed, she sat back on her knees and reached up, touching her breasts while maintaining eye contact. James kept his eyes on her face and tried to be as impassive as possible. "Mrs Rochester?"

"Antoinette," she corrected, reaching up to drag her finger over her lips and then reached for him like she wanted to kiss him again.

He stepped away from her and then turned back to the door. "Get your healer in here, Sirius."

"Love potion?"

"Yeah, but not Amortentia. She wouldn't be attempting to molest me if that were the case."

James kept himself back from Antoinette as he waited for the healer of the ship to come see to her. The healer showed up carrying a generic black doctor's bag. She ushered James out and he and Sirius stood outside the cabin door to wait.

"What happens now?" Sirius asked. James understood all the subtext to that sentence. What happens to the girl? What happens to Rochester if they find that she was dosed with love potion? What happens to Sirius's business if he is deemed responsible for aiding the kidnapping and rape of the girl?

James shook his head, trying hard not to think about the current situation. Instead, he blind-sided Sirius with his next question. "Are you truly my Sirius? Do you remember Harry and Lily and Limbo? And Regulus, does he remember?"

Sirius's eyes went wide for a moment before he relaxed. "Of course I remember Lily Evans Potter and Harry. I bet his killing Voldemort is what caused the earthquake in Limbo." They were quiet for another moment before he continued, "But I also remember this life. Remus isn't _here_ ," he said. "Peter's not here. At least not from this life's past."

"Yeah, and Lily's my sister."

Sirius stepped back and his eyes had glazed as he picked up the memories of that. "Yeah. Wow. Hmm..."

"'Hmm', what?"

"Would you get brassed if I dated..." he stopped, seeming to realize that 'dating' in the sense that he remembered it wasn't really what was done in _this_ time. "Courted her?"

James tried not to laugh. "Really? You want my Lily?"

"She's not yours, though, mate."

"She's _my_ sister. What makes you think I'd let anybody court her?"

Sirius frowned, half-pouting, "Whatever," he groused.

The healer stepped out of the room but didn't shut the door behind her. "I understand that there are Muggles in your crew, Captain Potter?"

James didn't know what exactly that had to do with anything. "Yes."

"Are any of the other five you brought with you Muggles?"

James paused to think before answering. "I know my boatswain is a wizard, but the rest were assigned by my CO, so I don't know. It's not like they wear uniforms declaring them to be wizards." He gestured towards the seven-pointed star on his lapel.

The healer nodded in understanding. "Well, one of you will need to carry the girl and the other should go get Mr Rochester. Her story is one you all ought to hear."

Before thinking James blurted, "She won't try to seduce me again, will she?"

The healer tsked at him but didn't do a good enough job to hide her smirk. "No, she should keep her hands to herself now."

* . * . *

In the end, it was determined that although Antoinette had indeed been given a love potion, it was something she administered to herself. She was not actually a prostitute and had instead wanted to ensnare an English husband so she'd taken the potion to be more seductive. It had worked. Rochester had thought only with his loins and asked her to marry him, to which she wholeheartedly consented. The only problem was that the longer the love potion was in her system, the stronger it became until she wasn't just seductive but actively aggressive with a powerful sexual appetite. She'd convinced Rochester and his friends to share her and had even started trying to break out of their room to ask the crew for a gangbang before Rochester tied her to the bed.

Finally, James and Sirius were headed back up the stairwells so James could depart, both chuckling in amusement at the interesting story with Rochester and his new wife.

"So where are you headed from here?" James asked him.

"Got another two passengers booked for boarding tomorrow for a trip through the weekend to the Virgin Islands. Some government ball or something. Normally, I'd like to have a few more but it was the only thing that lined up this week."

"Seems like a pittance for such long trip, no?"

Sirius shrugged. "It's not like the wind and magic cost anything and we'd be in the air just the same. And you? What's your schedule look like? When might we catch a pint? I know better than to ask now."

James smiled. "Yeah. I'm working. This weekend is my reprieve. I'm looking forward to going home to see Lily. I haven't been able to reconnect with her, you know, since waking up."

Sirius nodded. "Well, maybe in two weeks then, huh?"

"My next reprieve is all yours."

They stepped off the top of the stairs into the sunlight as Sirius laughed.

*** . * . ***

It was a week later and Lily was looking forward to a visit from her friends. They were younger than her and still had lessons while she spent time with her mother: planning menus with the house-elves, practising the piano, singing lesson, painting, and embroidering. She was both terribly bored and exhausted at the end of every evening. She looked forward to the hour after supper the most because she was allowed to spend the time in her father's study and ask questions current events and politics.

Lily spent the nights trying to sleep allowing more and more memories to bubble up and surface, learning more about herself in this strange place. She had never been a big fan of history and now she was living in it.

Pandora and Calypso came by earlier than typical guests were allowed, but Lily's mother, Euphemia, just smiled and shooed them out of the house into the gardens. Happy to let them mind themselves; after all, Lily was twenty, and a responsible girl.

"My gosh, I've got so much to tell you!" Calypso gushed and grabbed her hand. She dragged both Lily and Pandora towards the stables. "I've learned that my cousin's airship is in London and he's going to the Caribbean for the weekend for a ball. We've just got to go!"

"But London's miles away," Pandora said, "And besides, we don't have anything to wear!" She had finally got her feet under her to keep up with Calypso's tugging when the other girl let go.

"No one will know if we wear one of the same dresses that we wore over the season and we've just got to go! I've heard it's the Ball of the Year!"

"Who'd you hear that from?"

"Mother was gossiping again," she said, dismissing the comment with a wave of her hand. She heaved the stable door wide and strode in. Inside there were two travel bags already plump with things next to saddles and tack she'd pulled down.

"How early did you wake up to come molest the stables?" Lily asked, feeling a familiar excited knot forming at the top of her stomach. She remembered being included in planning some of the Marauders' pranks in seventh year and the sensation of doing something naughty and sneaking around was the same. Calypso got the same mischievous glint in her eyes that Sirius used to and Pandora was the reluctant voice of reason. Lily couldn't help but grin. She supposed she really was the Potter of the group.

Calypso only shrugged, so Lily asked. "What all did you pack?"

"I've got that fabulous red dress from the last ball and enough food supplies that should last up all weekend if we stowaway on the ship. And I've got my riding habit to change into out here. I'll put what I'm wearing back on when we get there."

Lily turned to Pandora, who still looked worried. "It doesn't sound like a bad plan, you know. The horses will eat up the miles at a canter and we'll be in London before noon. You've just got to hurry home, get a dress for the ball and your riding habit, and get back here without getting caught."

"And what about you?"

"I've got a partner in crime," she said, "Now go, hurry, and meet us back here in twenty minutes." Lily grabbed one of the empty saddlebags from the rack and pressed it into her hands. "This one's one of Mother's; it's already using wizardspace so your dresses won't wrinkle." Pandora took it and rushed out of the stables, hitching up her skirts with one hand as she scuttled out.

"You're going to confide in your house-elf?" Calypso asked, looking nervous for the first time.

"She's my personal elf and I can command her not to tell Mother where we've gone. Mother tends to spend her time in the sitting room with the door open. I'd have to walk by her to get to the stairs to get to my room. The house-elf will make it easier."

Calypso nodded, her eyes moving back and forth as she thought. Soon she was nodding, "That could work; maybe you can ask her for more food. You know how Pandora likes sweets when she's nervous."

Lily nodded and called for Poppylock. When the elf appeared, Lily handed the elf her saddlebags and instructed her to pack her ivory dress from the last ball, her brown riding habit, and food for four people for a picnic lunch. Poppylock disappeared with a slight pop.

"You didn't tell her not to tell your mum," Calypso pointed out. She started unfastening the buttons of her bodice.

"I'll tell her when she comes back," Lily said, shrugging. "Do you know the name of the ship or how to get to London?"

Calypso slipped off her bodice and tucked it into her bag, and then untied her skirt. "I know how to get to London, Lily, I'm not stupid. And the airship is called _Celestia_."

By the time Pandora was back, Lily and Calypso were already dressed and getting the horses tacked up. Once she had changed as well, they led the horses until they were on the lane before mounting.

Lily looked at her friends and grinned. The three of them were bound to get in a heap of trouble if they got caught but the thrill of doing something they shouldn't made it worth it. She clicked her tongue and took the lead, getting them started on their wild little adventure.

*** . * . ***

Hermione had had Petal pack her travelling trunk for her because she still wasn't sure what she was supposed to wear. In the week since she'd come to life in this time, she hadn't had much to do, so naturally, she'd spent it in the library researching things.

First, she researched Limbo and Purgatory then she looked for Dante's _Divine Comedy_ , which she didn't find. The only other reference notes in the books she did find sent her to a King James version of a bible. She knew it wouldn't have been the one that Dante had read from so shelved the idea for later. After that fruitless effort, she put her mind to studying what she could of current events and politics. This information was just as scarce.

Severus, it seemed, spent most of his days in his laboratory. She knew better than to bother him, but every meal they shared she dropped hints about their former lives. He never responded to any of them.

"Are you ready, Hermione?" he asked, startling her out of her thoughts. Thoughts that were still fuzzy and separate and hard to follow. She nodded and moved to pick up her trunk when he frowned at her. "We're not bringing along Petal, you know. Do you have everything you need to do your own hair?"

It was her turn to frown. Her hair now was leagues easier to tame than it had been in her previous life. It was just remembering the different styles for what time of day and activity and dress style. "Yes, I can do my own hair for two days."

"Good," he told her and moved to pick up her small trunk. He carried his in his other hand and they walked down the narrow stairwell.

Petal, Lace, and Pan, the trio of house-elves that Hermione had apparently named when she was a child were standing in a line near the door. Master Prince was standing in front of it.

"You two behave, now," he teased, mainly keeping his eyes on Hermione.

"Yes, Father," Hermione said.

"Of course," Severus answered. It was strange seeing him as young as he was now, in his early twenties. The scowl lines were gone and he seemed more content.

If Hermione wasn't insanely curious about what had happened in Limbo with the earthquake or what happened to him when she had been in that body-bind for what had felt like days, she would have left him alone since he seemed happier with this life. But as it was, she was determined to jog his memory sometime soon.

After Father had given both her and Severus a hug goodbye, Severus led Hermione to a carriage out front. "We aren't Apparating?"

Severus looked at her in confusion. "Sorry?" he asked, even as he handed their trunks to the footman and gestured for her to get into the coach. She climbed in and sat facing the front and he joined her on the opposite bench. "What was that about an apparition?" he asked, once they were settled. He thumped his hand against the ceiling twice and the coachman encouraged the horses to walk.

Hermione dropped the conversation because she knew she would feel like an idiot if she learned that Apparition hadn't been invented yet. "How long will it take to get to... Wherever it is we're going?"

Severus rolled his eyes at her but the half-smile on his face gave away his amusement. "We're going to London to board our transportation; it will take about two hours. That's where the _Celestia_ is docked."

Hermione tried to keep her emotions and thoughts off her face. It had sounded like he was talking about a boat, but it would take months to get to the Caribbean by boat, wouldn't it? Hermione decided not to worry too much about it and focused on watching the scenery as they travelled the bumpy road to London.

*** . * . ***

Upon reaching the city and riding closer to the Thames, Hermione got her first real look at their transportation. They were still a quarter of a mile away from the docks and she could see giant balloons with folded sails attached to them. She could only assume that those balloons and sails were attached to ships that were in the water.

"We're getting on one of those?" she asked, eyes wide as she stared out the window.

"Mmhmm," Severus confirmed. "The black one. It's the largest and has the best cabins. Being the largest ship it sways in the wind, or sea, a bit less than the smaller ships. It's a privately owned all-magical ship and it's registered with the travel office of the Ministry."

"Oh," was all Hermione could think to say. She worried that those perks meant that the transportation had cost a lot but Severus didn't mention anything about the money.

"I did bring an Anti-nausea Potion in case you still get airsick."

She turned to look at him and gave him a smile, "Thank you, Severus." She wasn't sure if her fear of flying in her previous life had translated into getting airsick in this one but she wasn't going to accept it until she was in the air.

When the coachman halted the horses near the dock and the footman opened the door, Severus climbed out first and offered his hand to help Hermione down. She walked several steps towards the docks and the large ships with her eyes focused on the balloons and sails wondering if they happened to have a library on board where she could research how they worked.

"Hermione," Severus called and she stopped and looked around, realising she'd walked several feet away from him and the carriage where he was just picking up their trunks. He strode towards her and gave her a little grin seemingly pleased and perhaps amused at her gawking.

"Sorry," she muttered when he stood next to her.

"It's all right. Just didn't think you'd want to take a dip in the Thames. If you had kept walking and looking up, you might have just walked right in."

She tried not to giggle and gave him a grin instead.

"Mr Prince?" a young man asked, drawing their attention back towards the ships.

"Yes," Severus answered.

"I'm here to carry your bags and take you to your cabin on board the _Celestia_. This everything?" He pointed at their two trunks. When Severus nodded the young man picked them up. "If you'll please follow me," he said.

They followed. The little wooden bridge that they used to board the large ship was rickety and Hermione held her breath as she stepped cautiously across it. Once on the ship, she breathed a sigh of relief and followed the young man towards the back of the boat and down a stairwell.

"Your two cabins are here on the main deck, stern starboard side. Captain's quarters are here," he gestured to a door opposite, "stern port side. And the wardroom, where you folks will be taking meals is the door next to it." The one he gestured to then was painted red. Probably so no one walked into the Captain's cabin by accident. "If you've need of anything, Captain can help you and we've got five elves on board. Rigboot can help you navigate the ship and Sailsa can help the lady into her gowns or do her hair."

Hermione made a pleasant note of surprise. Severus even raised his eyebrows at that unexpected comfort.

"As far as I know, you two are our only passengers for the trip, but I might be wrong. Sir, Miss," he said with a nod, dismissing himself and walking away.

Hermione watched and noticed that the hallway wasn't cramped like she was expecting. She turned to the doors that the man had gestured as theirs and opened the closest one. The inside must have utilized wizardspace because it was luxurious. Velvet upholstery, silk curtains, a full-sized clawfoot tub near a large magical painting of a fireplace, crackling happily.

"Wow," was all she could think to say.

There was a soft rumble before Severus laughed like it had started deep in his chest. She turned and stared at him with wide eyes.

He just smiled at her and shook his head. "I know this ship is a business and some of them may be gentlemen, but they may not be. I'd rather my room be the first door closest to the stairwell if you please. You can have the farthest one."

"And what would you do, Severus? Barricade the hall and stand guard?" She joked as she stepped to the other door and opened it.

"I would if I had to," he said. This room was just as lovely and grand. It looked very similar in layout, and the colours were rich warm ambers. Hermione slipped her wand from her pocket and levitated her trunk inside her room.

"Well," Severus said after he'd also moved his own trunk, looking at his pocket watch, "I believe it's mealtime. Shall we?" he gestured towards the red door.

"Let's," Hermione agreed.

Inside, the wardroom was outfitted with a long dining table and several card tables and plush armchairs. More fireplace paintings added ambience. There were two men with dark hair sitting at a card table in the far corner of the room. Severus frowned in their direction when they didn't stand, but moved to the table and offered Hermione a chair.

Once seated, food magically appeared in front of them sent to the table by a house-elf.

"How long does the trip take? I mean, I thought travel to the Caribbean would take two months at the earliest, but the assembly is in two days," Hermione said quietly.

At her voice, the two men looked up and stood. The taller of the two spoke as he walked closer," We'll ship out in about an hour and be at sea all tomorrow. We'll arrive over Tortola in the early evening on Saturday. The ball starts at eight, I believe?"

Hermione blinked at the man twice before she said the first thing that came to mind. "Two days? That's all. How?"

"Magic?" The other said. They looked alike. Wavy, black hair just brushing their shoulders. They were tall, even more so because Hermione was still sitting. It was their eyes, light grey eyes, that finally tipped Hermione to recognition.

"Sirius?"

His eyes widened and then looked between her and Severus. "Oh, bloody fuck! Snivellus!"

Severus stood quickly, his chair sliding across the floor loudly.

"He doesn't remem—" Hermione tried to stop whatever confrontation would happen. It would potentially blow up in their faces if Sirius exposed that they weren't really from this life.

"I should have known a ship this over-the-top would be yours, Black," Severus sneered at him. His eyes slid to the other man and then back to Sirius, "If I'd known the ship was yours I'd half expect to find it decorated with elf heads and cobwebs."

Hermione's mouth snapped closed in shock. Apparently, he remembered his former life then. Sirius did too if that horrible nickname was any indication. It took less than a second before her shock switched to irritation and anger. She stood so fast her chair tipped over behind her. It stopped whatever retort Sirius was about to make and drew all eyes to her.

She opened her mouth to say something and before she could, she recognized the other man as Regulus. She felt a flush suffuse her cheeks and looked back at the other two. Sometime in the little confrontation, they'd pulled their wands. "You two better calm down before _I_ start throwing hexes. Is there someplace a bit more private to talk, the four of us?"

"Of course," Regulus said. "Cauli!"

The elf popped into the air near his leg. "Master calls?" The elf looked like Kreacher, who had haunted the halls of Grimmauld Place, but not nearly as gnarled or ancient.

Regulus gestured to the two bowls of warm stew on the table. "Can you move these to the table in Sirius's room and bring tea for us as well?"

"Yes, Master Regulus," Cauli said as he bowed. He snapped his fingers and their food disappeared half a second before he did.

Sirius and Severus were still glaring at one another across the table. Hermione just rolled her eyes, grabbed Severus by the arm and tugged him towards the door. At first, he didn't move and she almost lost her balance and fell back into him but he put his hand on her back to steady her, moving behind her. He acted like he didn't want to show Sirius his back. He still held his wand; low and ready for a defensive spell in case Sirius cast first.

Hermione didn't stop as she exited the wardroom turned and opened Sirius's door, moving into the room and heading for the table. His rooms weren't as lavish as the guest cabins, though he did have his own fireplace painting.

Once the four of them were inside, Hermione sat at the small dining set and looked pointedly at the three men, expecting them to follow suit. They did so with reluctance. She started her meal in the tense silence and waited for them to calm down or one of them to speak up first. She didn't have to wait long.

"Have either of you recognized anyone else from Limbo?" Regulus asked.

Hermione shook her head while she finished her bite of food. Severus answered.

"You two are the first. I should have noticed that in the memories of Hogwarts."

Hermione swallowed and glared at Severus. "When did you, I don't know, 'wake up,' for lack of a better term?"

"Same day as you, I suspect."

"The first of September? Were you, you know, 'awake' when I came into your lab?"

He nodded but graced her with a smirk.

"You mean all this time, I've been dropping hints and you haven't said a word that you knew who I was?"

"I know who you are. You're Hermione Prince. My sister."

Sirius snorted trying to hold in his laughter. "You kept her in the dark on purpose?"

Severus nodded. "It was much more fun that way," he answered without animosity. He turned back to Hermione, "When I bargained to keep you out of my lab it was as much for your safety as it was my peace of mind. I had no idea what I was looking at, at first, and I didn't want to blow either of us up before we could understand what was going on."

"And have you figured out what was going on? After the earthquake in Limbo, there were days where I was body-bound it seemed like, definitely hours at the least. I was so bored. What happened to you?" She asked the three of them as she took another bite of stew.

"I'd rather not talk about it," Regulus said quickly, setting his teacup back down so quickly that some of it sloshed over the side and into the saucer.

Severus was looking at her with narrowed eyes but when Sirius answered her question he turned his gaze to him.

"At first I was in this foggy place with two giant gates. One made of gold and the other silver. Peter was there, between them, begging for forgiveness. Then... Then there was just smoke; horrid white smoke that burned my eyes and my throat and made me angry, but, I saw things in the smoke. Things that... I wish I'd known about before I died, things that might have changed how I behaved."

There was a thick silence as Severus started on his stew and Sirius drank his tea.

"I was in the smoke too," Severus said in response. "And I don't think you were body-bound, Hermione. I think you were in the fifth terrace of Purgatory."

"Purgatory? We went from Limbo to Purgatory? Does that make this place hell? Because it definitely doesn't feel like hellfire and brimstone and eternal torture to me."

"According to Dante, the Centre of Hell is actually icy. You were in the fifth terrace and," he paused to let his eyes slide from one Black brother to the other, "Sirius and I were in the third terrace. For Anger."

"And what did staring at the ground without being able to move have to do with sin?"

"The fifth terrace is for greed."

"Greed? Whoever sent us there thinks I was greedy?" She wanted to argue so badly, but talking about it reminded her of the mantra and all the time she'd spent contemplating those few words. _My soul clings to the ground_.

"You took all those classes in your third year," Sirius pointed out.

"And you would do every single extra credit project available to you in all of your classes. You would write extra feet of parchment over the assigned length," Severus added.

"What does getting good grades have to do with being greedy?" She asked, bewildered. She just wanted to be enough. So no one could tell her she wasn't a proper witch because she hadn't known before she'd turned eleven. Then it evolved into having to know as much about everything as she possibly could to try and keep Harry alive. She bit her lip as the familiar anxiety about Harry's safety pressed against her chest.

"Well, the extra assignments and answering every question in class was demanding more from your teachers and taking away from the other students, for one," Severus explained.

"I started waiting but then you'd get angry and call the entire class dunderheads for not reading the text, so I'd try to answer and you'd call me names! You called me insufferable!"

Severus raised a single eyebrow at her and she frowned. "Suffice it to say that we were in Purgatory and I think we all had to work through our flaws before we woke up here."

Regulus rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands. "I don't want to think about it anymore. Can you remember anything of this life's past that might explain why we're here?"

The other two men shook their heads, offering slight frowns as they did so.

"Wait, what do you mean remember anything of this life's past?" Hermione asked.

"I don't know, you just, think of something in this life and it sort of comes to the surface. Like I can remember going to Hogwarts with James," he paused and nodded across the table, "and Severus. Lily, Regulus, and you were all a few years below us."

"You were four years behind me," Severus said, "I remember being named prefect the year you started and being happy you were in my house."

She set her spoon down and let her shoulders slump. "I wasn't a Gryffindor?"

Severus shook his head. "No, you were in the house that all the Princes go."

"Slytherin?" She half-asked, letting herself whinge.

"Ravenclaw," Regulus answered for him. "I was in Gryffindor with Lily a year ahead of you."

"How can you know this stuff, though?" Hermione hit her palm against the tabletop and pursed her lips determined to get a straight answer out of one of them.

"You have to be able to quiet your mind, Hermione, and I think that might be something you have trouble with," Severus told her. "Did you try Occlumency, before...?"

"Yes, but there was no one to practice with really. Harry refused to cast the Legilimency spell because he said it hurt too much and he didn't want to give me headaches like that."

"We'll work on it later," Severus told her. He set his spoon down and sipped at his beer.

She blinked at him and then looked back at Sirius. "How did you two start being civil all of a sudden? I was expecting to have to yell at you a lot more."

Regulus laughed and that caused Sirius to bark his own laughter and Severus to chuckle. "Focusing on the memories of this lifetime, where we weren't enemies, helped the most."

"Reminding myself that we both died once already and I don't want to spend this life living in a perpetual state of anger, especially considering I only recognize a few people from our last life in this one. I want to cling," Sirius said, then held up his hands palms toward Severus in a 'keep back' motion, "figuratively, of course, to what's familiar. And You, Reggie, James, Lily... and Severus here, are what's familiar."

"Oh," Hermione said. She looked down at her soup bowl and found it empty and looked to see if Severus was done. "You think we could work on fixing this memory problem now?" She asked him.

He laughed at her impatience but nodded his consent.

*** . * . ***

James was looking forward to seeing Lily in the upcoming days. He'd let the rush of memories teach him all about his family and his home. His parents were different than before which confused him sometimes, but they were just as wonderful if a bit different. His father was retired Navy and his mother kept the home and estate running properly. Lily was the same, though. A spit-fire redhead that knew what she wanted and did it. As his sister in this life, she was a bit more of a prankster and had got into her fair share of trouble at Hogwarts, though nothing she ever did topped him and Sirius.

He was standing on deck and looking out over the coastline when he saw an outgoing black-ballooned galleon in the distance. One more inspection, he supposed, before it was time to turn the rudders and head inland.

"Captain?" one of his crew called. James turned to see one of the officers in charge of communications headed his way. "I've received a missive from your CO. We've got new orders, sir," he said.

James took the written missive the officer handed him and read the short message. Everyone on board was to switch ships to a galleon being sent to their location and they were to attend the SkyShip Embassy over Tortola as extra security detail for the Foreign Ambassadors Assembly being held on Saturday at eight. James looked up at the incoming galleon, much closer now, and saw the flags tied in the rigging designating it as one of Her Majesty's Royal Navy. His gaze dropped to the bow of the ship below the balloon and suppressed a shudder. Written in large, freshly painted letters was _The Dark Lord_. He hoped the odd dread he felt in his stomach was just because of the name of the ship.

It was up to him to give the orders to hail the ship and tell the crews to switch, but he felt reluctant to do so. He looked back down at the missive. It was signed his CO's initials, just like every other missive he'd received since he'd been out.

He turned to look back out over the deck. "Drop the rendezvous; we're switching ships!" His order was repeated by others, shouting it back to let others through the decks know what was going on. The hissing of the ropes and flags dropping sent another shiver up James's spine.

He went down to his cabin and used a bit of magic to put all of his belongings into his bag. He left it in front of his door, confident that the seaman in charge of luggage would bring it with the others. James headed to the wardroom to see if Beau was there to thank him for being a great Navigator for them and that they'd be seeing him around.

"Beau," he said when he caught up with him outside of his cabin, setting his own small bag of luggage outside the door. Beau turned around and smiled in greeting. James held out his hand to shake but Beau didn't return the gesture. "Just wanted to say it's been grand and after these new orders are over, I expect _Harriet_ to be just how it was when we left."

Beau looked down at James's hand and then back at him. "What are you talking about, Captain? We're coming with you. The skeleton crew from _The Dark Lord_ will take over here and we're all transferring over with you."

James dropped his hand and squinted his eyes in slight confusion. "But I thought the four-man would—"

"Not this time. The missive says everyone, doesn't it?" Beau asked.

James nodded, still confused. The missive did say _everyone on board_. "Oh," he said, stalling for the awkward moment. "Brilliant. This Assembly thing starts at eight, do you think you'll get us there in time?"

"Definitely... sir."

"Well," James nodded, the odd feeling in his gut weighing him down more than ever, "I suppose I'll head back up." He turned and walked away, palming his wand pocket as he did so. Maybe the odd feeling in his stomach was gas. Or just disappointment that he wouldn't get to see Lily and talk with her for another two weeks.


	3. Shindig

James and his crew on _The Dark Lord_ arrived at the SkyShip Embassy around midday on Saturday. Though in his memories, he'd seen and experienced large airships, seeing one in person was a vastly different experience. The Embassy had an enormous balloon, larger even than the galleon he was captaining. There were also propellers and dozens of bat wing-like extendable sails. The ship below wasn't built like sailing ships like the galleon or his caravel. It was a lightweight-ooking metal with large cabins for dignitaries and guests and maybe three stories tall. There was a long, thick rope tied to something below on the island of Tortola, otherwise, the ship would just free-float in the air.

To board the thing, James and the officers on his crews had to climb the rigging of their own balloon to climb a heavy Jacob's ladder dangling from the deck of the Embassy. James was thankful he wasn't scared of heights as he carried his small seabag up the swaying ladder. Once on board, he and his officers were directed to special quarters to change and shown where the ball would be held. His men would be patrolling the entrances and exits, but since he was the captain of the ship he would be allowed to attend.

When the _Celestia_ showed up a few hours later, they were given permission from the Embassy to hover closer and use brooms to get their magical passengers on board. Sirius stayed on deck with Regulus as they watched Severus and Hermione fly over.

As Sirius was looking out past the deck rail and towards the Embassy he declared, "I think I'm going to crash the party."

"Sirius! Really? Do you think I could—"

Sirius looked at his little brother. "And if they toss me out? Or arrest me? Who's going to come bail me out? Or man the ship?"

"Fine," he said, rolling his eyes. "I'll be the responsible one. Before you go will you strap me into my wings?"

"Remember, there are going to be Muggles about. You won't be able to fly all over. Only in the airspace right here on the starboard side where they've got Muggle-Repelling Charms."

"I know," he said as they headed downstairs to his cabin, "Besides, what if they toss you overboard? Someone's got to be able to catch you."

"When do you think my set of wings will be ready?"

"When we docked in London, I ordered the parts..."

Their conversation faded as they went below deck.

"Come on," Calypso said, waving her friends up from where she was peeking over the deck steps on the other side of the ship. "They've gone below." They each held a broom and Lily and Pandora had already cast a Featherlight Charm on their bags. They snapped the bag into the hook on the back of the broom handle and each mounted their brooms.

They kicked off and flew up and off the deck of the _Celestia_ and headed towards the deck of the Embassy, following the course Calypso had watched the other two passengers take. They landed on the designated _Special Division_ area and were approached by one of the officers on board.

"Can I take your bags and show you to your rooms?" The officer said politely.

Lily smiled graciously and allowed the young man to lead them to a place to get dressed. She was shocked the security had been so lax and was impressed Calypso had heard enough to get them there and into the ball without question. They'd not thought of what to do with the horses when they'd arrived in London, and Lily had had to call Poppylock to take the horses home. Other than that, their plan had gone spendidly so far.

There were only about two hours left to the start of the ball, so when they'd been left alone, the girls decided to start getting ready. Calypso's red dress was almost scandalous at how much décolletage it showed off and she arranged her black hair into curls that draped artfully to one side. She cocked her little red hat at a slight angle. Lily's ivory dress wasn't nearly as risqué. She let Calypso tame her wild red hair into something resembling a proper updo with a small ivory fascinator. Pandora's blonde hair went beautifully well with her dress which was a gorgeous mix of peacock blues and greens, though a few years out of fashion. Pandora's hat even had several peacock feathers as decorations.

Hermione sighed and looked at her reflection. The house-elf in charge of hair on Sirius's airship had managed to make her black tresses into something of beauty and the little dark burgundy hat matched her dress. She still wasn't all that keen on the corset she had to wear, but couldn't help sigh and spin to see the lovely way the dress moved with her. She heard a knock on the door and Severus's voice.

"Are you ready, Ambassador Prince?"

She shivered in anticipation. Severus had helped her with recalling memories over the last two days or so, but she still had trouble calming her mind. She had enough information to remember how to dance and what she was supposed to do as an ambassador. She was as ready as she could possibly be to dance and enchant the dignitaries and other ambassadors she would meet here.

*** . * . ***

Regulus was glad he'd asked his brother to strap him into his wings. Having something to entertain himself with as the hours dragged on and the ball started greatly relieved his boredom. He flipped and spun and was pleased to realise that his tinkering with the feathers had stopped the worse of the squeaks they made. Now they just clicked together in a way that reminded him of wind chimes.

The ball had started about half an hour ago and there were very few people above deck of the Embassy. Regulus dared to fly closer to get a look at the behemoth. He'd never seen a ship this big nor of this style before and he itched to get his fingers on the specifications for it. He swooped below the hull and looked around, noting the landing gear and the large buoyancy devices that seemed to tuck under the hull while it was airborne. He wondered if the ship was truly air, land, and sea capable. If so, it was a marvellous piece of advanced technology. He wondered which country was credited it with its conception and construction.

He let his wings relax for a moment to free fall as he looked for how it was anchored and then stopped to bob in the air. The anchor rope was as thick around as his body and tied way below on a pier jutting out into a wide bay. The rope was tied to a thick pillar of concrete. He followed the rope up to the ship and flew closer to see the rope housing, wondering at how large the space was for such an enormously thick rope of that length. Near the opening for the rope were two men, dwarfed in the opening, discussing something private.

It was only luck that allowed some of the conversation to float on the wind to Regulus below them.

"How soon... ...detonation?"

"Not... ...just need... make sure... ...the anchor."

"Well, it's... ...the explosion..."

Regulus felt his eyes widen. He looked for whatever they could be talking about, a bomb he assumed, and spotted something attached to the rope right below where they were. He flew closer still and hoped against hope that the two bombers wouldn't see him. He could see the mechanisms and the memories associated with that sort of wiring came as soon as he called, but there was something else. Something he didn't know anything about though he recognised elements of it. Alchemy. Whatever was going to explode wasn't triggered by just time or mechanics, but by an alchemic reaction that he had no knowledge about.

Severus would know.

Regulus flew around the Embassy on the starboard side and landed in the _Special Division_ designated area. He deactivated his wings and heard them slide together to compress. The problem with human flight was that wings to carry his body weight had to be very large even with all the magic he infused within them. He disillusioned them as he walked towards the stairs leading below deck, intent to see if he could get Severus's attention or tell someone about what he'd seen and heard.

He got no further than the doors before two Navy officers blocked his path.

"You can't go in here," the first said.

"Especially not dressed like common riff-raff," the second added.

Regulus glanced down at his well-tailored trousers and wrap coat. He supposed since he wasn't an officer in full dress they might think he was just a seamen from one of the many surrounding airships.

"I need to speak with Sn—Prince, Severus Prince. It's an emergency."

"An emergency?" the first mocked before laughing.

"An emergency would be if our Captain actually had a clue as to what was going on on his ship," the second muttered.

"No really, you don't understand."

"Sure we do, you're just pestering us because you want to see the women all dressed up. Probably haven't seen a woman in months."

"He might not be interested in the women. He might like a man in uniform."

Regulus desperately tried not to palm his wand but on a closer look, he noticed neither of these buffoons had the seven-pointed star on their lapels. He knew it was wrong and against the law and he would probably be arrested for it, but he pulled his wand with a flick of his wrist and Confounded both men before he Stunned them. He left them lying propped against the wall in the alcove beside the wide doors leading into the ballroom.

Inside, people were dressed in finery and many were dancing. Regulus didn't recognise anyone at first and he had to remind himself that the dresses they were wearing weren't costumes, they were the clothing of the era. He slipped further into the room, hoping to find Severus lurking on the edges.

He was halfway through the room and had spotted his brother but not Severus and had decided to approach Sirius to make a fuss when he saw six masked men wearing officers uniforms storm through the doors brandishing pistols around.

A woman screamed. Three of the men grabbed three women standing close to one another. Regulus's eyes widened when he recognised two of them. Lily and Pandora.

"Where's Ambassador Prince?" a fourth masked man shouted. The crowd seemed to part and Hermione stood there staring with wide eyes at the hostage-takers. "Prince," he called again and Hermione answered.

"I'm here! Let the girls go! What do you want?"

"We want fifty-thousand pounds sterling and a reverse of the Statue of Secrecy!"

"Don't promise them anything!" Lily shouted.

"I..." Hermione started to say, and then her voice trailed off and she stared at Lily like she finally recognised her. Her lips formed the first part of Lily's name but no sound made it past her lips. She let her eyes sweep across the room before returning her gaze to the hostile men holding her at pistol point.

Regulus took the same glance around the room, noting that only about a handful of people were standing with feet braced apart in duelling stance. Not enough wizards ready to fight or react with so many Muggles in the ballroom.

"I can't do anything about the Statue but we might be able to negotiate about the money," she said.

The gunman holding Lily tilted his head and shouted, "Not good enough," before he started backing out of the space. His comrades followed, dragging all three women with them. There was one gunman that shot his pistol but the only bullet lodged in a metal wall across the room. And then they were gone. There were some more shrieks and several women fainted but Hermione just stood there staring, shock written all over her face.

"Severus!" she called and whirled around, smacking directly into him. He had crept up behind her during the crazy situation. He grabbed her shoulders and squeezed. "I didn't know what to do, that was Lily, what do I do!" She babbled.

Regulus strode for the pair of them in the middle of the dance floor. At the same time, a single officer with messy, black hair ran out the doors. Sirius saw the three of them but chased after the officer.

"Severus," Regulus called over Hermione's hysterical babbling. The older man looked up at his name. "Sev, there's a bomb on the ship," he whispered. "I heard them talking about it but couldn't do anything before this whole thing happened."

"What do you want me to do about it?" Severus snapped. "Aren't you the engineer?"

"It's got an alchemic component! I need your help, please!"

Severus turned and hooked his arm around Hermione's waist and practically started dragging her towards the door. Regulus put his arm around her the other way and hoisted her up. He felt her fingers dig into his arm and her babbling transformed into shocked tears. The three of them made their way past the door and the men Regulus had dropped on their way above deck.

When they got there, Severus forcefully sat Hermione down on the floor, her skirt collapsed around her and she continued to cry. Severus slapped her across the face once, hard enough to leave a red imprint of his hand on her cheek. She stopped crying and blinked up at him.

"Hold it together, Hermione," he told her sternly. "You've been through a war, girl, now is not the time to lose your shit. We've got bigger problems. We'll get Lily back."

"But you still haven't—"

"Not right now. Just sit here, Reg and I have a problem we've got to deal with. Hold your wand and sit right here."

She nodded and slipped her wand from a pocket in her skirt.

Severus summoned a broom and mounted, only then looking back at Regulus. "Well?" he demanded.

Regulus cast the spell to activate his wings, heard them decompress and felt the magic on them shiver and allow them to be seen again. Severus's eyebrows raised and Regulus allowed himself to grin before he took off over the side of the ship towards the bomb.

*** . * . ***

Lily!

The only thing running through James's head was that he had to save Lily. He'd recognised her and Pandora as soon as the masked men had grabbed them, but couldn't get a clear shot for a spell with all the Muggles in the room.

He charged out of the ballroom, sliding in his dress shoes across the slick floor and chased down the corridor towards the shouting, thrashing women and the gunmen. Two of the gunmen turned left, dragging Lily and the raven-haired girl with them, the other turned right and took Pandora the other way. James chose to go after Lily's kidnapper and slid around the corner, using his treadless soles to his advantage. He barrelled up the metal staircase, hearing his footsteps echo his pounding heart. By the time he'd crested the deck he saw flying specks in the sky as the kidnappers had summoned brooms and taken the women off towards different ships. He couldn't tell at this distance who went which way. He ran to the rail and looked out, seeing the black balloon of his temporary galleon below.

There was no hesitation when he hoisted himself up over the railing and dived off. The moment of freefall only lasted a heartbeat or two, but to James, it lasted too long. His body bounced on the balloon of his airship and he almost slid off in shock before his arms reacted to his brain's command. His arms caught in the rigging and his legs swung down and there was a moment where he dangled 5,000 feet above the ocean and islands. The shock wore off quickly enough and he started the climb down, wondering how many of the crew were left on board and how fast he could get them moving. Once his feet were on deck he looked around for crew to shout orders to. The ship felt desolate. He would do this alone if he had to.

He ran to the bow and used the spells he'd had to memorise for emergencies in training. He brought the anchor rope up with a flick of his wand, he extended the wings and used a Banishing Charm to get the ship moving away from the other anchored airships. He saw two smaller ships, caravels with patchwork-coloured balloons; pirates. He had no way of knowing which one had his Lily on it but his gut told him to chase the left one. He tapped his wand on the rail of the ship and cast the spell to engage its propulsion system. At the jerk of moment, he stumbled but grabbed the rail to pull himself back up.

The caravels were fast but had nothing on the ship meant for pirate chasing. He tailed his chosen caravel with it's purple and green patchwork balloon for fifteen minutes before he saw them tuck in their sails and start losing altitude. With a few spells, _The Dark Lord_ also started dropping, faster than he'd intended.

James was knocked off balance and fell forward onto the rail. The movement knocked into his elbow and his wand slipped from his grip. For a brief second, he fumbled with it trying to catch it. The ship lurched again and he watched in sickening panic as his wand bounced and fell over the rail.

There was a shout from the caravel, and he looked up just in time to see them land in water. He could see people on board pointing and shouting back at his galleon and he realised he might have made a terrible mistake. There was a reason ships like this weren't powered wholly by magic. There were many blind spots with airships and directly below them was a major one.

James felt a moment of pure dread and knew what he did wrong a second before he heard the first crash and crunch of wood as the hull below his feet hit land rather than water. The next instant his body was flung from the wreckage as the wooden galleon pierced the balloon above and wrenched the entire ship to the side with immense force.

*** . * . ***

Sirius chased after James and the kidnappers as fast as he could. He slid to a stop at the stairs and took the opposite side, figuring James was going after Lily. He had recognised all three girls. Lily, Pandora, and from this life, a young cousin named Calypso. Sirius took the stairs two at a time and slipped once, dropping to his knees on the unforgiving metal staircase. He swore at the pain but got back up and was on the deck soon after. He saw Pandora, struggling in the arms of her captor, her blue and green dress flapping wildly in the wind and updraft as they flew out over the deck.

" _Accio Broom_!" Sirius shouted, wishing for his own pair of Regulus's wings at that moment. A broom cracked into his palm and he was mounting it and flying out over the rail of the Embassy. He could see the kidnapper headed for a caravel a short distance away and knew he wouldn't be able to catch them on a broom. These brooms weren't nearly as fast as the CleanSweep he'd had in school or the Firebolt he'd bought for Harry. He flew up instead, towards his airship, knowing he'd be able to catch them with her.

He aimed his wand at _Celestia_ and got her propulsion systems going before he even fully landed on deck. He shouted orders for his crew and they all called back their compliance. He ran to the wheel and told his Navigator exactly what he wanted. Any man that could be spared was to be on brooms, wands at the ready. They were going to attempt a rescue mission and then bring down that caravel.

Sirius was back on his borrowed broom, hovering above the deck and watching over the starboard bow as they gained on the caravel. It wasn't long until they were in striking distance and he looked back at the group of men that could be spared from running the ship to help rescue someone.

"We're looking to rescue a woman, named Pandora, she's wearing a blue and green evening gown," he called out. "Drop any men you see, everyone on board is hostile. As soon as we're clear, we attack the balloon and send them down!"

"Aye aye, Captain," was heard throughout the little gang and he nodded once before flying up and over the rail, diving down to the caravel.

The mission was over quickly because as soon as Pandora saw her rescuers she elbowed her captor in the face and darted forward, climbing up the railing and flinging herself at Sirius. If Sirius hadn't been paying attention she would have jumped right off the ship and into the air and water below. Instead, he swooped and caught her around the waist, feeling her fingernails dig into his arm as she swung her leg over his broom behind him and encircled his waist with her arms. She wasn't as heavy as he'd expected, but crazy amount of cloth in her dress made him worried she'd fall off his broom.

He gave the order to his crew and they all cast piercing spells at the patchwork green and orange balloon. There were shouts from the men on board the caravel that turned into shrieks as the ship dropped too fast into the ocean below. Instead of settling into the water like it was meant to, the wooden hull hit the surface with so much force the cracking of wood as it caved in on itself sounded like a thunderclap.

Sirius flew back up towards his airship and landed them on the deck. Pandora didn't let go when he dismounted them from the broom. He felt her arms trembling and turned to his Nav, giving orders that they would be heading back to the Embassy and they could relax for the moment. He offered thanks to all the men on board and told them he'd buy each of them a cask of rum for themselves next time they were docked in the Caribbean. Shouts of excitement and praise rang through them and Sirius was able to leave them be, secure in the knowledge that they would get him back to the Embassy safely.

He wrapped his arm around Pandora's waist and let her continue to cling to him as he brought her down to his cabin. He opened the door and led her in. When the door was shut, he patted her on the head. "It's all right, Pandora, you can let go of me now."

She pulled back from him and gave him a watery, gracious smile before leaning up on her tiptoes to kiss him fully on the lips.

It had been a long time for Sirius and he let her lead. She wasn't as kinky or wild as she'd been all those years ago when they'd hooked up once in Hogwarts out of curiosity and they both seemed a little rusty at it, but by the time they were naked in his bed they were out of breath and sated.

Sirius dressed soon after feeling oddly empty. Something had been off about the encounter that he couldn't put his finger on.

Pandora pulled his sheet up over her chest and looked at him with bedroom eyes as she watched him dress. "Thank you for rescuing me. May I ask your name?"

He stopped mid-movement and almost tipped over to look at her in his haste. "Sorry?" he said, thinking he'd misheard her.

"Your name? I'm sorry I didn't ask before..." she trailed off for a moment at the look on his face. "I think it's only proper to learn the name of the man who's going to marry me."

He put both of his hands up and stepped back. "Wait, whoa, who said anything about marriage?"

She frowned and stood, taking his sheet with her. "You bedded me! You have to marry me now; that's how this works!" He let his gaze trail down her body and his eyebrows raised at the bit of red on the sheet. Had she really been virginal? Was this not Pandora Greengrass? Kinky dominatrix of Ravenclaw tower by sixth-year?

"I'm... I'm confused," he said looking at her. She had the same face as Pandora, she was thinner than she'd been in Limbo and younger, but there could be no mistaking that shade of hair and those slightly protruding, crystal blue eyes. "You are Pandora Greengrass, aren't you?"

She nodded and her face seemed to crumble a little. "How do you know my name?" she asked, sounding all the more like the teenager she must be.

"I... " he tried to say, but couldn't find the words.

"You bedded me," she said in a voice that sounded on the verge of tears. "You rescued me and took me into your bed. Don't you love me?"

He backed up, almost tripping on her skirt laying on the floor before he reached the door. "I'm going to go," he mumbled before turning and fleeing out of his cabin away from her.

She found him a few minutes later in the wardroom. She was dressed but her hair was down and the humidity had made her curls limp. She wasn't wearing a hat and Sirius had the strangest thought that she was underdressed and scandalous without it.

She walked up to him and frowned. "Please, sir, may I know your name? Or are you worried my father will accuse you of theft? I swear, I won't tell him what's happened. I just... I thought that; oh, Lily would smack me with a book and tell me to get my head on right. Real life isn't like a romantic story!" she cried. "I just want to know your na—" she paused midword and looked around curiously, looking down at her body and then back at him. "Sirius?" she asked, sounding lost.

"Pandora!" As soon as she had said his name he realised she had just woken up to this life. She wobbled on her feet and he stood. He pulled her body close to his to steady her.

"Sirius?" she asked again, and then she added in a softer voice. "Do you think you could find me some food? I'm a bit peckish. Did we fuck recently?" she asked.

Sirius dropped his head with a short laugh and kissed her forehead. "Pandora, you've got a lot to catch up on. Come, sit down."

*** . * . *  
**

The slap across the face hadn't snapped Hermione out of her shocked stupor. No, what roused her was the echoing boom of an explosion and the listing of the enormous ship she was on. She tumbled arse over teakettle across the deck and slammed into one of several wide metal masts. She had enough sense to grab hold of some of the rope rigging as the ship rocked the other way, the balancing system on the ship overcorrecting. For a moment the ship tipped dangerously close to vertical and Hermione hung from one arm, her fingers tight on the tarred rope, and continued clutching her wand with her other hand.

When the ship tilted the other way, it wasn't as extreme and it continued to rock back and forth as it balanced.

"Hermione!" Severus's voice called out and she let go of the rigging where she lay and raised her arm. She felt him rushing to her side, "My god, girl, what are you doing all the way over here? And on the floor?"

She raised her head enough to glare and saw that his clothes were singed and he had soot smeared on his face. There was an odd odour about him, like potions ingredients and sulphur. "What the hell happened to you?" she asked.

It was Regulus's laugh that alerted her to his presence and she felt the incongruent thought that she might be scandalously showing her ankles so she leaned up more to try and straighten her skirts. Severus thought that she was moving to stand and stood up from where he'd crouched next to her, reaching down to help her up. As she stood, she heard the shouts of sailors as they came up on deck to find out what caused the explosion and listing.

Hermione looked at Regulus and noted that he too, was covered in soot and the hem of his sleeves was tinted neon green. She turned back to Severus. "What happened?"

"There was an... incident."

Before she could pin him with more questions, an officer came up to them and asked them if they would return to the ballroom. "We're trying to calm all of our guests and we would like to separate the _Special Division_ guests from the rest. We're not sure exactly what happened yet, but as soon as we know what's going on you and the rest of the guests will be briefed." He gestured for them to follow and Hermione took his words to mean that they wouldn't actually be told anything. Severus offered her his arm to escort her and she took it out of ingrained habit.

She slipped her wand back into her pocket, thankful that it hadn't broken in her tumble across the deck, and followed along. When they were back in the ballroom they were directed with the other _Special Division_ guests to a smaller room. The disparity between Muggle and magical guests was large. Only a handful of magical people where in the room when everyone was separated.

After a moment, Hermione tugged on Severus's arm and he and Regulus withdrew to the corner with her. Severus's quick hand movement and the buzzing in her ears told her that he'd cast his muffling spell and she hissed at him. "So, what happened?"

"There was a bomb; tied to the anchor ropes. It was complex and set to go off right as the gunmen were leaving. We didn't get to it to deactivate in time," he murmured, his mouth mostly closed so the eagle-eyed officers watching them didn't notice.

She looked over both of them, glad to see that they had all of their limbs and nothing looked bloody. "Are you both okay?"

"Shield Charms are a lifesaver," Regulus said, grinning.

"How badly is the ship damaged?" she asked.

Severus shook his head and frowned. "I don't think it's anything major except the anchor rope is gone. The explosion had enough power in it to move the ship. We're sort of just floating out over the ocean with nothing holding us down."

Hermione nodded and turned away, seeing a more decorated officer join the room. The buzzing in her ears stopped and she moved towards the senior officer. "Sir, I'd like to know what's going on," she said.

"With all due respect, Miss...?" he said, his inflexion going up at the end, fishing for her name.

"Ambassador Prince," she said, "and you?"

"Navigation Master Beauregard Walsh," he bowed. He had black hair and piercing grey eyes that reminded her of Regulus and Sirius, but there was something in his eyes that made her skin crawl.

"So," she instigated, seeing as he wasn't going to be compliant. "what's happened? What's going on? Do you have any idea who the gunmen were or what happened to their hostages?"

He smiled at her, cordial but not friendly. "We're working on collecting intellect, Madam. I can't tell you what we don't know for sure yet."

"What _can_ you tell me?" She asked, her irritation rising.

"I can tell you that all our navigational and communications tech is out of service. It seems the explosion caused major interference and damaged the rudders and cranks that connect to the sails. There are also at least four ships that departed at the time of the explosion. We assume the gunmen got away with their hostages." He looked up at Regulus and Severus finally taking note of their dishevelled appearances and raised a single eyebrow at them. "Do you have any information you'd like to relay?" he asked them.

"Not particularly," Regulus said, rolling his eyes at the man.

There was a disturbance at the door and they all turned to look. A redheaded woman in an ivory evening gown had barged in. "I'm telling you, my brother is going to be in this room. Let me in!"

"This room is for _Special Division_ guests only, Miss," the guard at the door answered, "You have to pass—"

"I don't know what that is!"

Regulus moved close and spoke up, "Lily! Thank Merlin," he said, grabbing her hands to hold in his like a suitor, "I thought I'd lost you." He tugged her forward and into his arms and she followed his lead, hugging him tightly.

Hermione was standing close enough to hear her whisper, "What's going on?"

"Just go with it, for now, we'll explain in a bit," he murmured back.

Walsh came up to them as they stepped apart from their hug. "You were one of the hostages, can you tell me what happened?"

Lily turned to him but stayed within Regulus's arms. "I was dragged up the stairs and on deck. Someone was there and handed a broom to my kidnapper and he let go to mount it. It was enough time for me to grab my wand. I stunned both and tied them together but then the ship went sideways and I almost fell off. When I looked around again they were gone." She shrugged and added, "Maybe they went overboard. Hope they sunk like a rock."

Walsh's lips were pursed and he looked like he'd swallowed a lemon before his expression shifted into a leering smirk. His gaze drifted down to Lily's cleavage, more on display since her struggle with her captor had loosened her corset. "Perhaps we need to get you looked at... taking that sort of tumble could cause all sorts of bruises. I've got a bruise paste in my bag in my quarters if you—"

Severus stepped between them and Hermione took in Lily's outraged face. The longer Walsh had talked the more Lily's face started to match her hair. "Perhaps you don't know how to talk or treat ladies, Mr Walsh," Severus said in a low, threatening tone, "but I will not permit you to speak to her or suggest such things."

Walsh tilted his head as if amused by Severus's threat and then looked around him to Hermione, eyes purposefully on her bared cleavage. "I wasn't aware these were ladies," he said, dragging his eyes away from Hermione back to Severus's face.

Severus's skin turned a mottled pink in his anger and instead of replying with scathing sarcasm and wit, he swung his clenched fist back and pummeled it into Walsh's smug-looking face. For a moment, chaos ruled in the small room as both men went down swinging. It was over before it really got started and other officers were pulling Severus off the man. In anger, he spat blood at Walsh's feet. Walsh just laughed, blood from his broken nose tinting his teeth red in a gruesome smile.


	4. Consequences

After the officers had pulled Severus off of Walsh they arrested Severus, Hermione, Regulus, and Lily. They were escorted into the bottom of the ship and locked in a single large cell. Hermione assumed the room had originally been meant for securing valuable storage but the design had been changed after it was built. The room itself was blocked off with normal walls rather than metal bars like she would expect from a cell. The door itself was made of bars and that gave the prisoners the opportunity to listen to the officers taunt and laugh at their expense.

Walsh had frowned as they were shoved in before telling them that if he and his officers weren't gentlemen he'd have them all strip searched for explosive materials. As it was, aside from Severus's bruised jaw and bloody knuckles, they were untouched. Which meant that no one had taken their wands.

Hermione sat on the floor in the corner, ignoring the frown on Severus's face when she did so. The other three did so as well and then Hermione cast the Muffling Charm.

Lily was the first to speak, "I can't believe you got into a fistfight, Sev." Her words were scolding but she was grinning when she said them.

"I was trying to protect your honour," he said. Despite sitting on the floor his back was as ramrod straight as he could make it and he looked particularly uncomfortable.

"Why didn't you pull your wand?" Hermione asked.

Regulus grinned and said, "The same reason Walsh didn't tell the guards to take ours. Those officers are Muggles; they know that _Special Division_ is different but not what it means."

"What does it mean? I have memories of the term but no explanation," Lily asked.

"It designates magic users, same as a seven-pointed star. It's an international symbol for wizardry," he said.

"Oh."

"All right, so how do we get out of here?" Hermione said, looking at the three of them. After a moment, she let her mind wander back to Lily joining them before the fistfight. She turned to Lily. "You said something about your brother. I didn't know you had a brother."

"In this life, Captain James Potter is my brother."

"Was he here?"

Lily nodded. "I saw him earlier at the ball."

"So we're missing Sirius and James," Hermione said aloud, more to herself than them.

"And Pandora and Calypso."

"Calypso! I knew the third girl looked familiar," Regulus said, leaning back.

"Are you Ambassadors too?" Hermione asked.

Lily chuckled, "No, nothing like that. We," she glanced to Regulus before continuing, "were stowaways on _Celestia_ and we crashed the party."

Regulus tipped his head back and laughed. "We need to get better security on that ship, this is ridiculous."

"It was Calypso's idea. Though I did talk Pandora into it. She was the reluctant Remus to our Black and Potter duo."

Severus's lips seemed like they wanted to frown but he just couldn't make it happen.

"Is Calypso... you know, from Limbo?" Hermione asked. She wiggled and rubbed her back against the walls to try and scratch an itch, it didn't really work.

"No," Regulus shook his head. "We didn't have anyone in the family named Calypso."

"She was still kidnapped and since I'm the oldest I'm responsible for her."

"How old is she?" Hermione asked.

"Sixteen," Lily answered.

"Shouldn't she be at Hogwarts?" Severus asked.

"She's homeschooled? I think," Regulus answered.

Lily closed her eyes in thought before reopening them and looking at Regulus. "That sounds right," she said.

"So we're missing four people and we can't use our wands openly to get out of this mess. We need to hear what's going on," Hermione muttered. Then she looked up at Severus, "Brainstorm with me. How can we take your Muffling Charm and reverse it so it amplifies sound? Maybe making it directional. I want to find Walsh and listen in on everything."

It didn't take them long to come up with a solution. Severus recast his Muffling Charm and inside that, Hermione cast the new Amplifying Charm, so they could eavesdrop without being caught by the Muggle officers standing guard.

It took close to an hour with Hermione aiming her wand up and moving it slowly from one corner of the ship to the next before they found the right voice. There had been dozens of conversations they had overheard. Guests being questioned, others being taken to their own staterooms for the evening, and seamen and crew in the mess. When they thought they'd finally recognised the navigator's voice, Hermione's arms had started shaking from holding her wand up so long. Regulus came and sat in front of her and propped her arms up with his.

"Cast it again, Hermione," he told her. She did and the finally heard Walsh's voice.

"I can't believe you didn't have more security in place," he said.

There were grunts and someone trying to talk through a gag.

"You can answer me well enough with your glove in your mouth, Captain," he sneered. When there was another grunt, he said, "Of course I know who the perpetrators were. All these stupid interviews and questioning is pointless. My crew and the pirates we hired are responsible for it. And if they hadn't bungled it we would only have lost communications, not the navigation systems too."

They heard footsteps and a crewman approach Walsh.

"What now? Are all the ships tethered to us up and running?"

"Just like tugboats, sir," the crewman said.

"Then what's the problem? You look nervous."

The crewman stuttered. "Umm, sir, our ship is gone."

"What do you mean _our ship_?" Walsh said, there was the rustle of clothing as he must have stood and then he repeated the question slowly and through gritted teeth, "What do you mean _our ship_ is gone?"

"I mean, Captain Pott—er, Potter, sir. There were four ships missing from the tethering. The two pirate caravels and two galleons. The logs say one was ours, HMA _The Dark Lord_ , and the other was one called _Celestia_. They must have gave chase."

Walsh swore. "I wanted _The Dark Lord_. Have you tried using one of the other ship's com systems to hail her?"

"We have, sir, and she's not responding."

Walsh exhaled heavily and sat back down, the squeak of the leather chair giving him away. "He'd be a complete dunce if he answered. No matter how gullible, James Potter isn't a dunce." He swore again. "I hope the ship's retrievable. After we get to our destination we'll have to _borrow_ a few of the caravels to hunt it down. Get rid of Potter while we're at it. Have you hailed the other two pirates, they were supposed to—"

"Hey, what are you doing in there?" One of the Muggle guards shouted, causing Hermione and Regulus to drop her wand to hide it.

Lily had been by the door and was supposed to watch for them. She cast a Confundus Charm and then quickly Severus joined her and performed a short Memory Charm on the guard. By the time his fellows had stepped up beside him to see what had been going on, he was confused and just shrugged when asked what he'd seen.

"Lily, why'd you let him see us?" Regulus hissed.

"I was listening, Walsh was saying something about James. I got distracted," she answered.

"There wasn't any harm done," Severus said, covering for Lily.

"So now what?" Lily asked.

"I vote we talk about what we've heard so far. My arms are aching," Hermione said.

They settled back down on the floor in the corner and Severus cast another Muffling Charm.

*** . * . ***

James blinked his eyes open and marvelled that at least he wasn't looking up at the sky of Limbo again. His head ached but he forced himself to sit up anyway.

"No, don't, don't get up, James. You hit your head," a girl's voice said over him. His eyes focused on the black hair and red dress of one of the kidnapped victims.

He swallowed and his throat felt gritty. "What happened?" he asked, his voice sounding scratchy.

She giggled as if the whole thing was a joke. James wanted to roll his eyes at her childishness and ridiculous girly fantasies. She probably thought getting captured by pirates and rescued was romantic, the crazy bint. "Well, I got kidnapped and you gave chase. Then when the kidnappers started to lower their airship into the ocean, you... I don't know what you did really. All I got to see was a giant airship on fire and in pieces. They put me on a little boat and left me. I had to Banish myself to shore."

He looked up at the starlit sky and blinked. He'd lost his wand and crashed one of Her Royal Navy's airships. If his CO didn't kill him he was sure his father would. What was worse was he'd gone after the wrong caravel, the wrong girl. Lily was out there somewhere still.

He looked back to the girl. "What's your name?"

"Calypso Black," she answered and if she weren't kneeling next to him on the white sand of a beach in the Caribbean she might have even curtsied.

"Black?" He asked, catching on to the part that was familiar. "Do you know Sirius Black?"

"He's my cousin," she said. "Do you think you can walk now? The beach is lovely, but it's quite creepy to be out so late at night."

It was only then that he paid attention to the rest of his body. There were aches and pains but nothing indicating he'd barely survived. He wondered if his magic had protected him from the worst of it. He sat up and caught sight of the wreckage of _The Dark Lord_. He felt a thrill at that thought—he'd taken down the Dark Lord—before reality kicked back in. They were shipwrecked on an island. He stood slowly and looked around for any sign of civilisation. He helped Calypso to stand. He headed inland towards a lush looking jungle. He would just have to make some sort of shelter for the rest of the night.

"Captain Potter?" she called after him, her voice high and overly sugary, "Can you walk a tad bit slower? My slippers weren't meant for this sort of terrain and my dress is a bit wet on the hem."

He sighed as he walked without slowing his tread and mentally corrected himself. He was shipwrecked with a lovesick little girl on a _deserted_ island.

*** . * . *  
**

"So there are airships that turn into boats, I was kidnapped but you saved me, I thanked you with sex and then assumed you'd marry me?" Pandora asked, blinking at him. She had eaten a small meal while he'd explained current events and his life since his awakening.

"Yes," Sirius answered. He stood and paced away from the table. "We should probably make some plans," he said. He turned and held out his hand to her. "I'm not going to marry you, though."

"I wouldn't expect you to. I think your first love is the sky and the freedom she allows. A wife would need to like flying." She let him help her up and she ran her hands down her dress like she wanted to smooth out the wrinkles.

"And you don't?"

"Not particularly. What plans do we need to make?"

"Two other girls were kidnapped: Lily and a cousin in this life, named Calypso."

Pandora's eyes moved back and forth like she was reading something before she nodded. "Calypso and Lily are my two best friends in this life. We all live in Potters Bar in Hertfordshire. They're both gracious for including me," she said. Her eyebrows furrowed before she added, "I'm lower class than them, than you." She focused again on his face.

"When have I ever cared about class?" He asked, rolling his eyes. "We need to get in touch with the Embassy and then contact James. I know he went rushing out of that ballroom right before me."

Sirius led the way out of the wardroom to the tiny office where his communications officer worked. He knocked on the door frame to get her attention. She looked up, tucking a strand of brown hair behind her ear. When she saw Sirius her smile widened.

"I haven't heard you call that the Embassy has been spotted, Kaylee," he said, addressing her, "What's going on?"

The woman's smile faltered. "I can't get in contact with the SkyShip Embassy, Cap'n."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean we're back where it was and it's not here. I can't find them and the crows haven't seen them either."

"Crows?" Pandora asked from beside him.

He pointed up, "Boys that climb the rigging as lookouts. On ships without balloons they'd be in what's known as the 'crow's nest,'" he said. She nodded in understanding and he looked back to Kaylee. "The Embassy was enormous, Kaylee. Are you telling me they can't even see her on the horizon?"

Kaylee just shook her head. "It's a big sky, Cap'n."

"How about the other ships that were in the area?" Pandora asked.

"No good," Kaylee said. "Muggle vessels were tied with ropes to her and _Special Division_ ones used their own magical tethers to stay close."

"How about James's ship, the HMA _Harriet_?"

"The inspection caravel we met a few days ago, sir? She wouldn't be here in the Carribean without dropping over the distance."

Sirius frowned. He'd forgotten that. Yet, he knew James had been at the party, he'd seen him. "Was there any other Her Majesty's ships there?"

"Yes, sir."

"Do you know if any of them departed when we did?"

Kaylee furrowed her brow and tapped a finger on her chin before nodding, "I think just before you engaged our systems another galleon was leaving in the other direction. I saw her when I was on deck."

"Did you catch her name so we could call her?"

"HMA _The Dark Lord_."

Sirius shuddered and Pandora's hand came up to rub his lower back. "There's no way he'd be manning a ship called that, would he Sirius?"

He shook his head. "I don't know. Can you hail her, Kaylee?"

"Yes, sir," she said, "I'll call you when I get a response." She turned back to her station and Sirius turned back to Pandora.

"Let's head up on deck and see what the Nav's got to say. James might need our help and we should try to figure out where he went. We'll look for the Embassy after we look for James."

Pandora followed. When they climbed the stairs above deck, Sirius realised how dark it was. He looked out over the rail to look at the sky beyond. He turned and looked out over the other side, finding the north star and using that to find the time. Pandora came up beside him as they looked out over the darkness beyond.

"You should probably get some rest, Pandora," he said in the quiet. She shivered but shook her head, opening her mouth to protest. "There's plenty of staterooms, I can have one of the house-elves take you to—"

"I'm going back to your room, Sirius, and after you talk with your Navigator, you're coming too."

He faced her and tried to find the right words for the situation. "Pandora, I—"

"I'm not going to fuck you again. Just to hold one another and sleep," she said. Her words were confident and there was a hint of command in her tone. It reminded him of how she'd commanded him in the bedroom that one time at Hogwarts. It was his turn to shiver.

"Yes, Mistress," he murmured.

Her eyes crinkled with mischief. "Well, maybe some mutual masturbation. You know, something to help us sleep."

He grinned and winked at her. "Go on, I'll be along shortly." She turned and Sirius watched the hem of her dress drag down each step until she was out of sight.

*** . * . *  
**

Regulus knew it was getting late. Lily kept yawning behind her hand and even Hermione had started to doze. When her head had fallen onto his shoulder for the second time, he roused her enough to get them all to stand and he cast a Cushioning Charm to make invisible pallets on the floor so they could lay down if they wished. Everyone returned to their original spots soon after.

They had already discussed everything they'd heard Walsh say and even speculated about what they might have missed. They'd come to the conclusion that Walsh was James' Master Navigator and had led the crew in a mutiny.

Now they were sitting in silence. Lily, on her pallet across from his. Severus was sitting on his pallet along the back wall and Hermione was sitting next to Regulus on his pallet. Hers was next to Lily's along the opposite wall. "Lily," Hermione whispered and shifted in place. When Lily's eyes opened Hermione shifted her skirts and crawled across the floor to whisper in her ear. Lily nodded and Hermione turned around. Lily started loosening Hermione's corset.

"Hermione..." Severus's warning was thick with sleep but still audible.

"I'm not trying to sleep with it tight, Severus," she answered a bit louder. She shifted inside her clothes and sighed heavily in relief. "Thank you, Lily. Need me to do yours?"

"If you would? During the struggle, it came untied but it didn't loosen enough to be able to sleep." Hermione turned around to loosen the ribbons on Lily's dress. "Oh, that's much better," Lily said when Hermione pulled the ribbon from a particular gusset on the left, "thank you, Hermione."

Hermione nodded and crawled back to sit next to Regulus again. Her actions made him smile and he let his eyes slip closed as he listened to Lily snuggle down onto her makeshift bed. Hermione laid her head back down on Regulus's shoulder and shifted her body close to his. He had just dozed off when there was a sharp, metallic bang as one of the guards hit something against the bars of the cell door. Hermione jerked against him as she woke with a start.

"Hey, alchemist," the guard said, his voice loud in the quiet room. " Wake up! Captain wants a word with you."

Severus stood and walked to the door. The guard opened it. Severus turned to look at the three still in the cell. Lily was asleep and facing the wall. Hermione was anxious but dead on her feet. Severus locked eyes with Regulus before he walked out of the cell. Regulus wasn't sure what the look might have meant. The door swung shut and the guard locked it. Regulus could just hear the guard hiss at Severus to walk.

Hermione had started trembling and she looked back at Regulus with panic in her eyes. "What are they going to do to him?"

"Nothing he can't handle. They called him alchemist; they probably want to discuss alchemy. Maybe the bomb they planted earlier."

Hermione tried to get up but her foot caught on her dress and she slipped back down onto her bum. "But I need—the guards might be gone, we should—umph—let me up Regulus!" she tried to glare at him but her anxious tears leaking down her cheeks ruined the look.

"Hey, hey, come here. Sit down, Hermione, you're okay," he soothed, running his thumb along her cheekbone to wipe away her tears. She quieted and looked up into his face. He wasn't sure why he did it, but he tipped his head down and kissed her. She had bitten her bottom lip in her anxiety and he licked it, feeling the little bit of damage she'd done to it with her teeth. Her mouth opened to him and he deepened the kiss, loving the way she responded to him.

Regulus's hands had wandered to her shoulders and arms and he rubbed at them gently to help relieve her stress. He didn't know how long they kissed, but what had started as slow and sensual picked up urgency after a while. When she broke the kiss to climb over his lap he was a bit shocked but he brought his hands to her waist to hold her there. They didn't speak for fear of waking Lily but soon Hermione was shifting and moving her skirts out of the way. He knew Severus might kill him for this but he wasn't going to say no when she was the one instigating it.

When it was over, Regulus had conjured a blanket and their clothes lay in a wrinkled pile at their feet. He smiled at her as they laid down, getting comfortable enough to sleep. The last thing he remembered before falling asleep was Hermione's near silent whisper, "Thank you. I needed that."

*** . * . ***

A throat clearing is what woke him. Regulus jolted awake and was keenly aware of the naked woman's body pressed close to his and the evil eye of her brother glaring at him. He shifted enough to look at Sev, hoping not to wake her, but she was moving in his arms to hide further under the blanket he'd conjured. A quick glance at Lily had her sitting up on her bed smirking at him.

Severus's eyes lingered on his sister's bare shoulders and then came to rest on Regulus. "You couldn't have even let her keep her shift on?"

"You shush," Hermione muttered into the blanket. Regulus reached down to pull her underthings out from the pile of clothes and handed them to her. She slid under the blanket completely to start dressing. Regulus also redressed under the blanket. By the time they were reclothed, Severus had flopped back down onto his pallet. He looked exhausted.

"Did they keep you awake all night?" Hermione asked, concern tinting her voice.

"I'd ask you the same thing, but seeing as how I caught you sleeping, I'd say I doubt it."

Regulus pretended to glare at Severus. "Hey!"

Severus just twitched his lips and gestured with a minute nod in Hermione's direction. She had pressed her face against his arm and hidden under her hair. Regulus moved a little and glanced down at her. She had turned tomato red.

"I could have you charged with theft, you know," Severus said conversationally to Regulus.

Hermione slipped out from under her hair to scold her brother. "You leave him alone. I was upset when you got snatched out of here and he comforted me."

"I didn't think comforting required getting naked."

"Well, it does!" She said, nodding once for emphasis. Regulus couldn't keep a straight face at that and chuckled. Severus and Lily joined in.

Regulus leaned close to Hermione and whispered, "What do you say to marrying me?"

She frowned, her brow scrunching together, "Why would we do that?" she asked, genuinely confused.

"You really don't recall much of this life, do you?"

"I haven't had very much quiet time to practice!" she huffed.

He brought his mouth to her ear and whispered quietly. "I took your maidenhead, Hermione; that's a big deal in this time period. It's expected of me to marry you."

"Well that's ridiculous," she said, blinking up at him. "What if I don't want to?"

Regulus grinned. "We'll have to talk about it later." He turned to look at Severus and saw Lily smiling at them from the corner of his eye. "So what did they want with you?"

"They needed me to concoct another reagent like the one used in the explosive they detonated yesterday. Seems whoever set it up used all of the material in that one bomb rather than split it for a second bomb like Walsh intended. That's what caused the explosion to be so powerful and knock out the navigation systems in addition to the communications. They provided me with the ingredients and told me to make it. While I worked, they seemed to forget I was in the room because some of the lower guards got to talking.

"Apparently, they're navigating us with the tethered ships to an island off the East Coast of the United States. There is supposed to be a hidden treasure somewhere on the island." He rolled his eyes and yawned, bringing his hand up to cover his mouth. "I botched the potion but they won't know that until they try to use it. It's not reactive."

"What else are they going to try to blow up?" Regulus asked. Severus shrugged.

"And they're looking for a hidden treasure?" Hermione asked, frowning. "They mutinied to become pirates?"

"That's what it seems like."

"What about the demands they gave me? About the Statute of Secrecy and the fifty-thousand pounds sterling?"

"A ruse it seems. Maybe the goals of the pirates they hired but it definitely wasn't Walsh's goal," Severus said.

"That's a relief at least," Hermione said. She leaned back into Regulus and he wrapped his arms around her.

"What?" Lily asked.

"I thought for a while that they had detained us because they knew something was wrong or off. Like they knew we weren't who we really say we are."

"We are who we say we are, though," Regulus answered.

"Well you might be, Mr Regulus Arcturus Black the second, but I'm not really Hermione Prince!"

Severus frowned and at first glance Regulus thought he actually pouted for a moment. "Do you not like being my sister?"

"I barely know you! I'm Hermione Granger and I feel like a fraud. I mean, when they called for Ambassador Prince I looked around at first because I forgot my name!"

"You're not a fraud, Hermione," Lily said. "We're not frauds. I went to Hogwarts with you and Regulus in this timeline, I can bring up any memory from this life just as much as I can bring up memories from my previous life. I'll never forget James as my husband or Harry, but this is my life now, with James as my brother. We really need to teach you how to bring this life's memories to the forefront of your mind."

Hermione seemed to slump in on herself and Regulus squeezed his arms around her in a tight hug. "I don't know what I'm supposed to be doing."

"Living," Severus and Lily said at the same time. They looked at one another and smiled.

Regulus nodded, agreeing. "Living."


	5. Incarcerous

James woke up flat on his back. He felt the urge to stretch and tried to move his hands before he realised that they'd been tied together and attached to a tree over his head. His feet were likewise tied. A second later his eyes rolled back in his head and he groaned. His eyes snapped open and he tipped his head down to look at what was happening at his groin.

Calypso's hair was down all around her face and shoulders and it tickled his bare thighs and stomach as she explored him with her mouth.

"Cal... Calypso, please," he tried to say. She took him all the way into her mouth until he bumped the back of her throat. "Stop!" he finally mustered.

She leaned back and he left her mouth with a pop. Her lips were red and plump and he would have been mesmerized at the sight if he'd consented to the engagement. "Why?"

"Why? Because I asked you to. Please stop, I don't want this."

Her hand squeezed his engorged flesh, "I think you do," she said before bending back down to continue taking advantage.

There was shuffling in the bushes a few steps away and James opened his eyes to see what might be coming their way. He almost wished for some wild predator to attack the woman attaching herself to him, but couldn't bring himself to wish her harm.

Instead, a wild looking head of black hair emerged followed by the rest of Sirius Black's body.

"Sirius!" James called.

Sirius's eyes went wide and he held up his hands, one in front of his eyes and the other out in front of him. "Sorry! I'll just... Go back the way I came!" he shouted as he stumbled backwards blindly.

"Sirius, get your doggone hide over here and stop her!" James shouted.

Sirius's hands fell and he stopped trying to walk backwards. "What?" he asked, but then he actually took in what he was seeing and his eyes zeroed in on James's bound hands. Before James could blink, Sirius had pulled his wand and cast an Incarcerous Spell at her. She squeaked in protest before coming up for air. When her mouth was off of his junk, Sirius cast a Full Body-Bind Curse and Calypso's limps snapped together and she fell back away from him.

Sirius unbound James's hands and moved Calypso further from him. Once James was free, he went to pull his wand from his pocket but froze when he didn't find it.

"What's wrong, mate?" Sirius asked.

"Not only did I shipwreck myself, I lost my wand."

"Broke it or lost it?"

James shrugged, feeling lousy, "I don't know. Dropped it over the side of the ship right before she dropped onto the rocks."

"Well, let's get out from under your little makeshift lean-to here," Sirius gestured to the fabric from Calypso's bustle that James had commandeered to use as a roof, tied between three trees. They'd slept on the sand next to one another, though James had made sure to keep his hands away from the teen. He brushed his hand along the bottom of his socked feet and slipped his boots back on before following Sirius out from under the red fabric.

They left Calypso laying in the sand under the shade of her bustle.

Sirius raised his wand toward the burned wreckage of James's ship and called loudly, " _Accio_ James's wand!" James held his breath, not wanting to hope that his wand had somehow survived. Something wiggled in his vision, but after a second's pause, it seemed that it was just a bit of black fabric that hadn't burned. He sighed and went to turn around when Sirius smacked him in the stomach with the back of his hand. "Look, look!" He pointed with his other hand.

Sailing from over the beach came a familiar length of mahogany. When it was close enough, James jumped up and caught it, feeling the rush of power and comfort that flooded his veins when he gripped it.

"Thanks, Padfoot," he said caressing the wood with his fingertips. "I owe you one."

"You owe me three, Prongs," Sirius said with a laugh. When James gave him a confused look, he explained. "The wand, stopping nympho in there," he gestured with a nod back to where they'd left Calypso, "and finding your arse. You know we had to use the crows to find you? Thankfully, that wreck over there is so big or we might never have found you. What are you doing with a ship called _The Dark Lord_ anyway?"

"You know, that's a bit complicated, why don't I tell you once we're in the air?"

"You got it. Let's go get my little cousin."

Sirius didn't bother unfreezing Calypso or taking her ropes off. Instead, he levitated her stiff body behind them as he mounted the broom behind James. Once on deck, Pandora rushed them. "Calypso!" she said, seeing the girl. She cancelled Sirius's Body-Bind spell. "What is she tied up for?" she asked Sirius.

"She had James tied down and was—"

"Giving him a blowjob. He was hard, he wanted it."

"I did not!" James said.

"Whatever," she sulked. She turned to Sirius and said, "Bet you don't want to brag that I was almost sorted Hufflepuff now, do you?"

His eyes went wide in his head and it took James a moment to place that comment. He turned to look at the girl. She had long, smooth black hair, high cheekbones, and grey eyes like almost all the Blacks he'd ever met. It was Sirius who stared at her opened mouthed before asking, "Cepheus?"

*** . * . ***

Sirius was still staring at Calypso when James grabbed his arm and dragged him back out of earshot of the two girls. He shook his head briefly and then turned to look at James. "What?"

"That's your cousin, from Limbo? The fourteen-year-old?"

"Who else did I always tease about almost being sorted Hufflepuff?" Sirius answered, not expecting an answer. Obviously, when they'd been selected from Limbo and gone through Purgatory, something had happened to Cepheus. "You don't think she's a he, do you?"

"Not a time for joking, mate," James said. After the first dozen times of people telling Sirius to be serious and his subsequent joke on his name, all the Marauders had learned to deal with it. Remus's approved method was a smack to the back of the head. Telling Sirius to knock it off or that it wasn't time for joking was James's way.

Sirius looked back at Calypso and tried to picture her as male. The basics were the same. Black hair, grey eyes, great cheekbones. They all had those features. But little things, like the way her mouth tucked in at the corners or the all-over freckles, definitely reminded him of Cepheus.

"How did he die?" James asked.

Sirius blinked a few times and took a deep breath, looked at James. "Don't remember." He frowned. "How are you doing?"

"What do you mean?" James looked down at their feet to avoid eye contact.

"You bolted out of that ballroom and I have no doubt you were trying to get to Lily. You obviously chased the wrong ship."

"She's not dead."

"I don't think she is either, James. As soon as she got a chance she would have pulled her wand and taken care of the wanker that grabbed her." He paused, not sure how to even bring up the other thing he thought he should touch on. He glanced back to Calypso where Pandora was sitting with her. At least Pandora hadn't had the audacity to untie the girl yet. "Are you going to arrest her?"

James looked up in confusion. "What?"

Sirius gestured back towards his cousin. "Calypso. Are you going to arrest her for what she did to you?"

James shook his head. "She's what? Sixteen?" Sirius nodded. "Hell, I might have rubbed my morning wood on her in my sleep, I don't know. She was curious, and yeah, I didn't want... No, I'm not going to arrest her or have her charged with assault."

"What she got to be curious about? She's Cepheus! You know, male cousin from Limbo?" Sirius asked, still not sure how he felt about that revelation. "In fourteen years in life and almost fifty in Limbo, I'm sure he figured out how his dick worked. He didn't need to experiment with you."

"Maybe _she_ wanted to experiment with _her_ body?" James said half shrugging. "It's possible she was prepping me for something more."

Sirius shuddered. "Whatever, I don't want to think about it anymore. Don't you feel violated though? Knowing it was Cepheus?"

James laughed. "What has you creeped out the most, Sirius? That Calypso is Cepheus? That she's related to you?"

"I don't know. I guess it's more that I thought he'd know better."

James rolled his eyes and shook his head, he walked back toward the girls and Sirius followed.

James crouched down in front of his cousin. "What name do you want to go by? Cepheus or Calypso?"

"Calypso," she answered.

He was quiet for a moment as he maintained eye contact with her. "When did you wake up to this life?"

"Two days ago when I went running to Lily's to convince her and Pandora to stowaway and crash the party." Her eyes dashed a glance at Sirius and he sighed, closing his eyes. He really needed to get better security if three women were able to sneak aboard his ship and stowaway for two entire days without getting caught.

James nodded but continued the eye contact. "Why'd you—"

"I don't know," she said, suddenly blushing deeply. "I'd never—and it—you were just there and I thought I could make you like it."

"Do you understand that you can't do that sort of thing? That it's wrong?"

She nodded vigorously, tossing strands of hair around her face. "I'm sorry, I was just... You were so warm, and I..." she blushed again and looked down at the deck.

James stood up and cancelled the Binding Spell. The ropes around her torso and arms untied and disappeared.

Sirius looked over both girls as Pandora helped Calypso stand. Both were still in their evening wear from the day before. Calypso's dress was ragged on the hem and most of her bustle was gone. Her hair was stringy from the humidity and salty air. Both were missing their hats. Pandora's dress had fared better and she looked more put together than Calypso at least. "Did either of you leave your bags or clothes on board _Celestia_?"

They shook their heads. Sirius scratched at his chin in thought, "Kaylee may have something if you're not opposed to trousers." He turned to James, "So what now?"

"We get back to the Embassy," James stated.

"Easier said than done. It's not moored where we left it. We've been searching the skies for her and hailing her, but haven't picked up anything yet."

"I might have an idea," Calypso said. She still seemed timid around James, like she was expecting him to be angry with her. Sirius and James both turned to her. "I stole something from the pirates when they weren't looking. I don't know if it umm, survived though. I need a bit of privacy to get it."

Pandora snickered before looking at her, "What is 'it' and where did you stash it, Calypso?"

"I think it's a treasure map and I stuffed it down my corset," she answered, proud of herself.

Sirius chuckled and James joined in. "All right, let's get you some privacy and see about getting some clothes from Kaylee for you both. Then we'll have a look at this treasure map."

*** . * . ***

Not long after Lily and Hermione had helped tighten each others' corsets and straightened their dresses, did Lily start pacing their little cell. She had to use the toilet for one thing and despite still having her wand and knowing she could clean herself instantly after doing her business, she wasn't thrilled about doing anything with Severus, Regulus, and Hermione in the room. It just wasn't on.

The longer she waited, the more agitated she became. Regulus watched her while Severus talked Hermione through more Occlumency lessons to try and bring more memories of her current life into her mind. When the officers guarding them changed shifts, Lily finally snapped. Forming a plan on the fly, she banged on the bars to get the new guards' attention.

"Hey, can we please be let out to go to the bathroom?" she asked.

The guards seemed to confer with one another with a look before one shook his head. "No, I don't think Walsh would like that."

"We've been in this cell for over twelve hours without food, water, or a way to relieve ourselves. We're British citizens and we have rights."

The guards looked at one another, sharing more anxious looks.

"What are you doing?" Regulus whispered at her.

She turned and whispered back, "Trying to get out of here."

"We might be able to get you a bucket, Miss," one of the guards said, though it sounded like he wasn't even sure of that.

Lily pursed her lips. "Can I speak with Walsh?"

"Captain Walsh is a busy man, Miss," the guard answered. Lily noted that apparently, he'd given himself a promotion. It was then that she noticed the guard's eyes slip down to her cleavage and her plan solidified.

She reached out and grabbed the bars, leaning forward to give the two of them a better show. She dipped her head so she would look up at them from under her lashes and smiled as coquettishly as she was able. "Please, officer, won't you get Captain Walsh for me? I promise I'll do absolutely _anything_ ," she drawled the word, "you can dream up."

The two guards blinked at her, shared a look, and one started to turn and leave. He stopped and looked back at her, "Do you mean for him or for us?"

She licked her lips and winked at him, something she remembered seeing Sirius do, and grinned. "All three of you."

The guard nodded stupidly and left the room in a hurry.

Lily continued her odd angle, lent forward as the other guard stared at her chest. She wiggled a little and her breasts jiggled. The guard's mouth fell open slightly. Were they that starved for sexual attention in this era?

A throat clearing beside her caught her off guard and she turned to see Severus standing just out of sight from the door.

"What are you doing?" he mouthed the words to her. His brows were narrowed in jealous anger and his arms were crossed over his chest. He was trying to use the two inches in height difference between them to intimidate her by looming. She rolled her eyes and leaned back to glance around him at Hermione. She raised her eyebrows and gave her a look and Hermione seemed to understand.

"Severus, can you please come sit back down?" She asked. She sounded needy and a little frustrated. "I really don't think I've got it just yet, can you explain it one more time?"

He didn't turn around at first. His eyes widened in frustration and his jaw clenched, he huffed through his nose and his nostrils flared in his irritation at her. When he finally started to turn on his heel there was a flash of red from behind him and then he started to fall. Regulus caught him so he didn't get hurt and dragged Severus's stunned body over to her pallet.

"He's going to be absolutely brassed when you wake him up," she hissed at them as the outside door opened and the guard and Walsh strolled in.

Regulus nodded but then shrugged and gave her a little grin. Hermione just waved in a gesture to get her back on task.

Lily turned around to see Walsh staring at her hungrily.

"I heard you were asking for me, Miss Potter," he said, looking her up and down.

"I'm willing to do just about _anything_ to get out of this cell, Captain," she answered, pouting a little.

He looked back up at her and leered. "I'm sure we could work something out." He gestured with his hand for the guard to unlock the door. Lily stepped out as the door swung open and the guard was quick to shut it back and lock it.

Walsh offered his arm to escort Lily out and he led her out of the room. He didn't say anything as he led her up one deck and to a lavish stateroom at the end of a corridor. Once in the room he turned and locked the door by hand and leaned back against it. "What sorts of _anything_ were you offering?"

Lily grinned and faced him, hitching up her skirt enough so that she could kneel at his feet. On her knees, she looked up at him and reached up, dragging her hands from his sides, down his hips, and to the placard on his trousers. It might have been meant to be sexy or titillating, but what she was really checking for was where he kept his wand. At first pass, she didn't feel one. It worried her, but she continued with her plan.

Slowly, she unfastened each button of his fly and maintained eye contact as she did it. He didn't close his eyes and she was thinking she might have to go a bit further than she was anticipating if he didn't stop watching her soon.

She focused again on what was in front of her and moved the cloth of his trousers and pants out of the way. When she actually touched his manhood he moaned, the sound of it changed as he tipped his head back, anticipating what she was about to do for him. In that moment she pulled her wand from her dress pocket and silently stunned him.

He slid down the door and slumped against it. Manhood still poking out of his trousers. She snorted in amusement slightly before casting an Incarcerous Spell and binding him tightly. She left him slumped against the door as she slipped into the room off to the side to take care of her needs. When she was done she cleaned her hands and levitated the man out of the way. Out of spite, she hovered his body close to the floor and then slipped him under the bed. When he woke he'd probably bump his head trying to get out.

She cast a Disillusionment Charm on herself, took a deep breath and slipped from the room. She walked as slowly as she was able, cursing her stupid evening gown because with every movement she could hear the fabric swish. Two officers opened a door right next to her and before the door shut she had stunned them both and levitated their bodies back into the room they came from. She locked the door with a Locking Spell and continued on. She downed six more officers with ease before she got to the door to where her friends were being kept. She knocked and waited for them to open it. When one did, she downed him with a Stunner and then another flash of red light came from the bars and hit the other in the back. Hermione was standing at the bars on the other side of the small room. She grinned at Lily.

"Glad to see you're okay," she said. "Did you find a bathroom? _Alohamora!_ " She stepped out and Regulus and Severus followed. Severus looked like he'd swallowed a lemon.

Lily laughed and levitated the guard at the door against the wall. "Yes, I did."

"We were trying to listen to where you went but we got distracted. _Someone_ didn't understand the plan," she said, teasingly as she glanced over at Severus. His expression had gone from sour to an irritated pout. Lily couldn't help but smile at him.

"What plan? No one let me in on a plan!"

Lily walked close to him and said, "Oh hush," before she reached up on her tiptoes and brought her mouth to meet his.

He inhaled in shock and froze where he stood, not daring to move. She pulled back and smiled. He stared at her in open-mouthed shock before he swallowed and he stepped back, completely flustered.

"So, the ship's not moving and I think I heard one of the officers I stunned mentioned something about a team going ashore. I think we've reached the destination and a group has gone off to hunt for that treasure you mentioned."

"Let's get off of this ship," Regulus said, then turned to Severus, "and see if we can't find your stateroom on the way up, I want my wings."

"Good idea," Hermione said and as she passed Lily she whispered through clenched teeth, "I've so got to use the toilet."


	6. The River Acheron

Hermione debated with Lily about borrowing someone's trousers but Severus refused to give up a spare pair of his and after a few minutes' stalemate he asked her politely to wear the day dress she had worn the day before. Since that was all Hermione had in her bag she pouted but did as asked.

Lily was dressed similarly, in a modest calico day dress. She even pulled her hair up into some fanciful little updo with a hat. Severus had frowned at Hermione's lack of attention to her hair and Lily had produced a lace hairnet thing to contain Hermione's black curls that she called a snood.

"You are ridiculous! Wasting precious time making sure my hair's just so," she grumbled as the stood on the deck with borrowed brooms.

Severus had changed his trousers and waistcoat back into his more usual attire but his frockcoat was singed and filthy. Regulus was likewise dressed in shirtsleeves and waistcoat. He had thick brown straps of leather around his shoulders and chest but Hermione hadn't seen what was attached to them yet.

"Ready?" Severus asked when he, Lily, and Hermione had all mounted the brooms. Hermione watched as Regulus cast a spell and the thing strapped to his back seemed to come alive. Enormous, silver, metallic wings spread out behind him and with a powerful flap they hoisted him up off the ground where he hovered in the air like he was treading water.

He grinned at her and winked.

Her mouth opened to ask questions but then Severus and Lily kicked off and she had to follow. They flew over the deck and Hermione squeaked as she realised how high up they were. She froze as she looked out over the green and blue water of the ocean below and the small craggy island where they were headed.

She felt a rush of wind come up beside her and she clenched tighter to her broom but still didn't move.

"Are you okay, Hermione?" Regulus said from behind her. His silver wings flapped every few seconds to keep him airborne.

She glanced back at him with wide eyes and blinked. "Maybe?"

"Do you need help?"

She looked back down at the island below and shook her head stiffly. "I think I got it."

"I'll fly beside you," he said.

She leaned forward and the broom started the drop down. At first, the decline felt too fast, but she handled it well. When she was almost to the ground she pulled up slowly so she hovered over the rocky soil. She descended the last bit and dismounted before looking around to try and get her bearings. Regulus stepped up behind her and hugged her; she didn't realise how much she was trembling until she was pressed against his body.

"Deep breaths, sweetheart, the shakes should stop soon. You did really well. I'm sorry I didn't think about how the height would bother you."

She closed her eyes and enjoyed the moment until her brother inevitably cleared his throat to interrupt them. Instead of the smirk she expected to see on his face, he looked concerned. Lily was equally concerned next to him.

"All right, Hermione?" Lily asked.

She released the last deep breath she'd taken and nodded, stepping from Regulus's arms. "All right, so where do we go now?"

Regulus pointed east. "I spotted a small group going that direction."

Hermione picked up her skirt enough so she wouldn't trip on it and started in the direction he pointed. Regulus flew up above them as Severus and Lily walked with her.

Every few minutes Regulus would call out to turn left or right as he decided what the best path was, but soon, the tree canopy had grown too thick and he had to land and walk with them. Hermione heard him cast a spell to tuck in the giant wings and then he Disillusioned them.

Severus had taken the lead and Regulus followed behind Lily who was behind Hermione. They started hearing quiet voices and they slowed down and pulled their wands. As their groups got closer, they heard someone in the other group yell.

"Oy, Reggie!"

Hermione turned to look back at Regulus who was smiling. "Was that...?" she whispered.

Lily and Regulus were both smiling and nodding. "Can't mistake that voice. That's Sirius!" Lily said. She moved up beside Hermione as they came into a large clearing in front of an entrance to a cavern. Standing there were their four missing friends. Hermione smiled as she watched Regulus and Sirius come together to hug and Lily rush into James's arms.

"I've missed you," James murmured, kissing her on the forehead since he couldn't get to the top of her head because of her hat.

"Love you, James," she said back. She pressed her face into his clothes and breathed deeply. She stepped back and looked him over. "Why do you smell like Sirius?"

Sirius and James laughed. "Well," James started, "I crashed my airship." He tipped his head and repeated that. "Or rather, I crashed Her Majesty's _The Dark Lord_." He looked up and gave her a mischievous yet guilty grin before starting to giggle and then break into guffaws. James and Sirius's laughter was contagious and soon all eight of them were laughing.

"Anyway," James said, after finally catching his breath, "I needed to borrow some of Sirius's clothes."

Sirius opened his mouth to say something but stopped to glance at Calypso. She nodded. "Just so everyone knows, all eight of us have met before. Most of you won't recognise Calypso, though." He put his hand on her back as they all stepped a bit closer together. "In Limbo, this was Cepheus."

Severus's eyebrows raised a bit before his eyes narrowed. He looked around at the group of them and asked, "Did we all fall into the pool because of the earthquake?"

Hermione nodded even though she technically didn't need to; she and Severus had been holding onto one another when they tumbled in.

"Were we the only ones?"

"I haven't come across anyone else that I've recognised," James said.

"How did you guys come to be here?" Hermione asked the other half of the group. Sirius and James were down to trousers, shirtsleeves, and waistcoats just like Regulus and Severus. Pandora and Calypso were in simple day dresses that didn't fit them. Calypso's skirt was a bit short and the buttons on Pandora's blouse were puckered because she was more endowed than the original owner of the clothes.

"Calypso here stole a treasure map from her captors before she was released," Sirius answered. "You?"

"Heard the newly minted, Captain Walsh, and his men talking about treasure on the island."

"Captain? My navigator?" James asked, confused.

"Seems they mutinied and he gave himself a promotion," Hermione said.

"Seemed like the thing to do at the time," a voice said, materializing from behind James. A Disillusionment Charm started fading and Walsh's wand was pressed against the back of James's neck. Before any of the rest of them could pull their wands, Walsh shook his head. "Don't bother, you're surrounded."

Severus stiffened as one of the guards poked him in the back with their wand. He looked over to Lily and hissed lowly, "I thought you stunned him?"

"I did! Left him tied up under the bed!"

Walsh chuckled, but the sound was low and it made the hair on the back of Hermione's neck stick up. "Polyjuiced Muggles. You didn't really think I'd believe you'd have sex with me, did you? Or that I would want you? A pathetic, little Mudblood?" He sneered at her before commanding his men, "Take their wands."

"She's not a—" James tried to say but snapped his mouth closed and jerked forward when Walsh poked him harder with his wand. The guard behind Hermione reached forward and groped her in his attempt to find and secure her wand. She squirmed and grit her teeth against the touch.

"When you're all dealt with, I'll also be commandeering that lovely galleon out there. What is she called, _Celestia_? Of course, I'll be renaming her. Now, all of you, inside the cave."

They all turned as one to look at the cavern entrance. It was a large opening and Hermione was thankful they wouldn't have to crawl or try to squeeze into some narrow space. Severus and Regulus were pushed through first and their guards followed. They did have to climb down a short embankment but both did so without a problem. Regulus turned and offered his hand to Hermione to help her down. She slipped a little and fell into him but his arms came up around her so she wouldn't fall. He lowered his mouth to her ear. "You're okay," he whispered.

Severus helped both Pandora and Calypso. Sirius followed and offered up his arms to Lily. His hands rested on her waist and he picked her up, bringing her to him, before turning to watch James and Walsh slide down.

They walked a little further in and the path started to narrow as they descended. They wound between walls of dark grey limestone, following the sloping floor. Those with wands all lit them as it got darker the deeper they went. The path narrowed so much that they had to start walking single file. They came around a sharp turn and suddenly the path opened up into a great chamber. Far below them were five rivers, all flowing in the same direction. The third looked red in the dim light that filtered down through the ceiling. The guards extinguished the lights from their wands. The guard in the lead turned back to Walsh and he told them to continue. They did so, following another narrow ledge down to a wide raised road crossing over each river.

As they progressed slowly forward Hermione marvelled at the immensity of the cavern. They had walked at a steady pace for fifteen minutes and they were hardly over the first broad river they'd come to. Hermione couldn't figure out why this entire place seemed familiar. The hair on the back of her neck had raised and a shiver went down her spine.

"Why does it feel like I've been here before?" Severus muttered, but his low-pitched voice seemed loud in the silence. They were so far above the wide rivers that they couldn't hear the rushing water.

"That's because you have," Walsh answered. "That's the River of Woe. You would have been ferried across it when you died."

Hermione gasped and looked down at the river they'd finally walked over. She could just make out a field of white flowers that went on endlessly into the dark before the cave walls blocked the view. Had that been the Asphodel Meadows they'd had in Limbo? She looked back to Severus and then to Lily and the rest. They all were looking at each other with nervous, almost fearful eyes.

"Keep walking!" Walsh commanded and they turned and walked on. After another long walk, they started to get closer to the second river. The acrid smell of sulphur and rot floated up from the slow-moving river. Hermione walked closer to the edge of the road to look down into the river beneath them. She could tell the river itself was moving slowly, flowing over things too far away to identify. Things that were thrashing and writhing on the surface. She coughed and tried to clear her throat.

"I know that smell," Sirius murmured.

Severus nodded. "River Styx."

Sirius looked at Severus strangely before he too nodded. Hermione looked around at everyone. Lily was walking close to James, holding his hand. Pandora was walking close to Regulus and she was holding hands with Calypso. Sirius, Regulus, and Severus were spread out and leading the way while the guards and Walsh walked in a loose line behind them with Walsh at the centre.

As they continued, the road narrowed and started sloping down again. Hermione felt a cold wind blowing steadily up from the road. The ceiling of the cavern closed over them until it felt like they were walking through a tunnel. Though it was dim, there was still enough light to see so Walsh's men did not relight their wands. A few had even put their wands away as they looked around in wonder and fear.

The tunnel narrowed further before opening back up to the same enormous chamber. They were just starting to pass over the third river when Walsh told them to stop. The water of the river below them still couldn't be heard from the road but they were much closer to it. The road they were on had narrowed and a large chunk of it had seemingly broken off which made a steep bank leading down to the river's edge. Everyone had fanned out to create a loose circle, facing the centre. The eight of their group formed one side while Walsh and his men the other.

"All right," Walsh said, his eyes were fixed on Regulus where he was standing next to Hermione. "Any last words?" He asked, cackling a little at his own joke. Another shiver went up Hermione's spine and she glared at the man. He pointed to the next two rivers which seemed very close in comparison with the last two they'd passed over. Beyond them, Hermione thought for a moment she saw something else, movement of something large and abnormal, but there was nothing but overwhelming blackness below. Her eyes were probably playing tricks on her. She brought her hands up to rub at her arms over her sleeves, suddenly chilled. "That's the River of Immortality," Walsh said, bringing Hermione's focus back to the present. "I'm going to drink from that one. The rest of you I think should be tossed into one of these two. Oblivion and Blood, I think. I don't care. Well, not all of you," he grinned and there was a maniacal gleam in his eyes that reminded Hermione of someone else. "Regulus, Cepheus. You two can be saved," he said, raising his free hand towards Regulus and Calypso, "Come over here to cousin Bellatrix."


	7. Between Stars & Sky

At the name of his deranged cousin, Regulus stepped back and his eyes went wide in disbelief. There was half a second of silence before Hermione snapped, a shockingly loud war cry escaping from her lips as she charged Walsh. No one moved in the five seconds it took for her to collide with him, the sound of gravel and loose rock loud as they tumbled off the road toward the River of Blood below. The moment they were out of sight, Regulus was bolting across the circle after them, worried that the more physically powerful Walsh would overwhelm Hermione. Severus was right there with him as they hopped off the road and half stumbled half slid down the rocky incline. The fall was steep but longer than Regulus had realised and the few times he glanced up to locate Hermione, he saw the two of them rolling and spinning as they rolled faster down toward the red river.

The closer they got to it, the more scarlet the water became and the more it looked wrong. The river wasn't so much as flowing but bubbling. The heat that rushed up from it as he and Severus continued tripping down the bank confirmed in his mind that it wasn't just bubbling, but boiling. Merlin, if Hermione fell into it there would probably be no way to get her out.

"Hermione! Look out!" he shouted, hoping she would realise what she was hurtling toward and try to stop her descent.

The ground started to level off and Severus's legs caught under him a moment before Regulus's did. Severus reached out and grabbed the fabric of Hermione's dress, yanking back toward him as he fell back away from the scorching river of blood. She screamed at the change in momentum but wrapped her arms around her brother and clung tightly to him, panting and gasping to catch her breath.

There was another scream as Walsh continued rolling right into the river. He screamed again and his wide panicked eyes caught with Regulus's. "Help me, save me! Regulus, please!" The masculine screams raised in pitch and before their eyes, Walsh's body shifted and morphed into Bellatrix. Gaunt, malnourished, post-Azkaban Bellatrix. Despite the madness in her eyes she still reached back with both arms toward him, hands turned up in desperate supplication. "Regulus!" Her scream of anguish pierced his heart.

Regulus had caught himself and stopped on the bank of the river, just within reach of Bellatrix. There was the briefest moment to decide and even though he was unsure if her body was even salvageable in the boiling river he reached out and offered her his hand. He couldn't just let her die so horribly. Yes, she was evil. She tortured, maimed, and killed without hesitation. But she was still his cousin and he couldn't let anyone, cousin or not, scream and beg like that without at least trying to save them.

As his fingers brushed hers, a calm, melodious voice called his name. "Regulus, do not help her." He pulled his hand back at the soft command and looked to the source of the voice. It was a very tall, very beautiful woman. She wore a white, draping gown and despite her beauty, she was difficult to look at directly. She glowed.

He looked back down at Bellatrix who had slipped further into the water and into the middle of the river. Her mouth continued to move like she was screaming but no sound penetrated the quiet. "What is this place?" He asked. He turned to look at Severus and Hermione and then squinted in the direction of the ethereal woman.

"You are in the earthly realm's access to Hades. This is the River Phlegethon," she said and even her voice seemed otherworldly. It sounded like there were thousands of women's voices answering in unison with her every word.

Bella's form bobbed further along the river until she looked like she was treading water, mouth and eyes still opening in silent screams.

"And I'm just supposed to let her go?" he asked. "No one should have to—"

"Sweet child," the woman said, smiling sadly at him. "That one is where she belongs. Boiling in the River Phlegethon in the Seventh Circle of Hell for sins against her neighbours. She boils for eternity in the blood of those she tortured and killed." The woman looked at Hermione as she said the last words and the memory of how Hermione had died and ended up in Limbo came back to him in startling clarity.

"Will Hermione be punished?" he asked, quieter than before in the hopes that Hermione wouldn't hear him. Hermione had her head pressed against Severus's chest as they embraced. She was shaking and Regulus wondered what emotion was coursing through her. Relief? Fear? Joy?

"No. Bellatrix had circumvented her rightful death. Now she is where she belongs. Come, let us go see your friends."

Regulus worried that he was seeing things as Hermione and Severus hadn't seemed to notice the woman but then Severus looked at him over Hermione's head and let his gaze slide to the woman.

"Come on, Hermione," Severus said into Hermione's hair. She'd lost her snood and her hair was loose, black curls falling freely around her face making her look dishevelled. Regulus walked close to them as they both turned to follow the woman up the steep bank. The climb up was long but not difficult and he wondered what the angel-woman was doing to make it easier for them to climb out. They all walked without speaking but their shoes crunched against the gravel and loose rock underfoot. Regulus didn't know what to say to his companions but as he fell into step beside Hermione, he reached down to hold her hand.

*** . * . ***

As soon as Hermione had collided with Walsh—or Bellatrix, or whoever it was—and Regulus and Severus had chased after her, Sirius, James, and surprisingly, Calypso, had all attacked the guards. Sirius had punched one in the face twice before the guard had even registered what was happening and he slipped to his knees and swayed in stunned confusion. Sirius grinned to himself, proud that he could stun someone without his wand. He held the guard's head still long enough to bring his knee into the man's face which knocked him out completely. Sirius let him slip to the side out of his grip and turned to hit a second guard who was headed his way.

The scrap didn't last long. With three guards down completely, Lily and Pandora had grabbed their wands from the guards and had already started tying everyone up before Sirius could bring down his second opponent. It seems these wizards weren't used to physical altercations at all despite seemingly being military.

Lily handed him his wand and Regulus's which he pocketed. They hadn't heard any screaming or shouts so he hoped his brother and their friends were okay. It took him a moment to absorb that he'd referred to Severus Snape, his previous enemy, as a friend, but with only a second's reflection, he knew it was true. Severus and Hermione Prince were just as important to him as the other members of their little group.

Sirius turned and headed to the escarpment to look over the edge to look for his brother but was distracted by Pandora. After getting her wand and tying up the guards, she had walked further into the cavernous chamber. She looked over the edge at the fourth river and muttered, "Well, now I'm curious." Her voice carried back to them on the cold wind.

Four identical shouts of "No!" followed after her and James, Lily, Calypso, and Sirius all bolted after her. She had started to climb down the embankment. She looked back up at them with so much curiosity and confusion, Sirius would have had trouble denying her anything. It was Lily that explained their reluctance.

"Pandora," she said reaching out to her friend and grasping her hand. "We've already established that we're in some weird mesh of Christian and Greek or Roman mythology, what with the River Styx back there and being in Limbo and Purgatory. I'm not going to let my best friend, named Pandora, to get herself or the world into trouble because of her _curiosity_. If you catch my meaning."

Pandora had the decency to duck her head in embarrassment. "I figured I was safe from the myth, you know. It's not like it's a box." They all chuckled a little at her comment. "But aren't you curious?" She looked up at each of them and then looked around. A little further down the bank levelled off and the red, rocky soil gave way to a lush, overgrown garden on the banks of the river. It was a slow-moving river, but gentle and soothing. The water made tinkling sounds that reminded Sirius of wind chimes.

"Her curiosity, in this case, will do little harm, sweet child," an unearthly voice called down to them. Sirius and the others turned to look. At the top of the slope and walking down to meet them was a woman of magnificent beauty. She seemed to glow with it. Behind her were Severus, Regulus, and Hermione, the latter of which were holding hands.

When the rest of the group were closer the glowing woman turned to face them. "I am Matilda and this is the River Lethe, the River of Forgetfulness. Seven of you need to bathe in this river before we can move on."

"Who's the oddball?" Sirius asked glancing at his companions. They all looked a bit worse for wear and probably needed a bath but he was sure that bathing in a river called Forgetfulness probably wasn't meant to cleanse them in any physical capacity.

The woman tilted her head and said softly, "Calypso, do you know why you are not allowed?" Calypso looked upset and turned her face away from Matilda, shaking her head. "The eight of you were given second chances and passed through Purgatory. You were then given opportunities to make a choice to see if you'd learned from your lessons there."

Calypso turned to look at Matilda, squinting. "The fire? That was...?" Her eyes darted to James and she lowered her face in shame.

"Yes. You failed in overcoming your vice. While the others will forget their sin you will remember yours and relive it and your time in Purgatory in your dreams until you have overcome and learned from it. I'll then bring you to the River Lethe myself. Then you will be worthy, like your friends."

"I don't know if I want to forget," Hermione said quietly as she tried to look at Matilda.

Matilda looked at the others and made a gesture with her hand to hurry them along. Sirius and Pandora were the first to start disrobing. Sirius didn't wait for any of them as he slipped naked into the gentle, clear water. He turned back to the others and watched as James and Lily and Severus started to pull off their clothes. Severus offered Lily help in untying her corset.

Once each of them slipped into the water, Sirius let his eyes slide shut as he felt the painful memories of Azkaban leave him. Hallowe'en night and finding James and Lily dead slipped away into oblivion. The horrible home life he'd had with Walburga faded. All the pain and hurt from his bad choices seeped away out of his skin and he was left with only the knowledge that those things had happened. He opened his eyes to see Regulus pulling off the last of his clothing and helping undress Hermione. She seemed nervous and tried to cover her body but everyone in the river was in their own world, letting go of the sins of their past lives, and weren't paying her any attention.

Pandora was the first to slip out of the water and back onto the bank and Sirius watched as Matilda dried her and dressed her in a flowing, one-shoulder, white gown that reminded Sirius of a toga. He wondered what she'd dress him in and he followed Pandora, stepping out onto the bank.

Matilda's hands were soft and the act of being dried and dressed by a beautiful woman felt intimate, but his body didn't respond to the stimuli like he expected. He wondered if there was something wrong with him. A low chuckle escaped her lips and she leaned down to whisper in his ear, "There is nothing wrong with you, sweet child, but I am not human and you instinctually know that." She dressed him in a white tunic that fell above his knees and belted it at his waist. She knelt and provided him sandals, tying them at his calves. He tucked his and Regulus's wands into his belt as he waited for his friends. James followed next and was also dried and dressed by Matilda's soft and gentle hands.

Hermione was the last to come out and though she still seemed a bit nervous, she didn't try to cover her nakedness. Once they were all dressed, Matilda stepped close to Calypso and settled a hand on her shoulder in comfort. "Now, we shall walk on through the garden to the River Eunoe."

*** . * . ***

Lily watched Matilda gesture toward the river. A wooden walking bridge materialised in front of them and Matilda, with Calypso, walked across it first. They walked single file over the bridge and the sound of their steps were muted. Once everyone was on the opposite bank, the bridge disappeared.

Matilda led them through a large, overgrown garden along a narrow, winding path for several minutes before they stepped into a small clearing where the last river, tiny in comparison to the previous four, trickled by. The clearing was beside a tiny waterfall that was close enough to touch and on the grassy bank beside it was a large, ornate, silver ewer. Matilda picked up the ewer and held it under the waterfall, collecting some of the clear water. She conjured seven matching silver goblets that floated in front of her and she poured water from the ewer into each goblet. When the ewer was empty she replaced it next to the waterfall.

She handed the goblets to everyone except Calypso. Lily's heart ached for her friend. She looked so dejected and sad as she stared at the ground not included in the strange rituals of this place. No one had taken a drink yet and Lily raised her goblet. "To second chances?" She asked them.

They all nodded and raised their goblets as well. "To second chances," Sirius echoed. They all brought the goblets to their lips together and drank. Flavour burst on Lily's tongue. The finest wine, the sweetest nectar. The water tasted amazing and she sipped at it faster not realising how thirsty she'd become. Despite the wonderful flavour, it didn't quench her thirst. Instead, with every swallow, she remembered some of her happiest memories. Holding Harry after he was born and looking up into James's awed face. Wiping away her happy tears when she said her vows at her wedding with James. Seeing Gryffindor win the Quidditch Cup in seventh year and having the party of a lifetime with Mary and all of her friends in Gryffindor. Learning about magic from Severus, her sweet friend. Playing with Petunia. Then there were memories of this life. Playing with James in a stream behind their country home. Laughing and dancing with their father, Fleamont, at the Christmas Ball when she was nine. Jumping with excitement when she got to ride her first airship and declaring she wanted to be an aviatrix at the age of twelve. Gossipping with her friends Pandora and Calypso.

When Lily opened her eyes the clearing around them was illuminated with the brightest Patronuses she'd ever seen. She saw her deer jumping and bouncing around the air alongside James's stag, Sirius's shepherd chasing after them and barking. She saw a falcon and a raven spinning and circling overhead. She saw an otter and a dolphin flipping and dancing as if they were swimming in the air. It was beautiful.

Matilda spoke and they all turned to look at her, even the Patronuses. "If you so choose, you can join the Muggles with the Oversoul now or you can continue living your lives. As long as you continue to be virtuous you will have no further trials."

Severus cleared his throat and Lily wondered if he was also still thirsty despite drinking the fantastic water. "No further trials?"

Matilda smiled at him. "No further trials for your souls. Choosing to live means you'll still have to deal with the mundane: sickness, pain, heartache, and death, but you shall not have another trial for your soul. You've been found worthy." She paused and looked at each of them as their Patronuses faded away. The clearing seemed darker now that they were gone. "What do you choose? Moving into the Beyond or living this life?"

"I don't know about you guys, but I'm choosing to live," Sirius said, laughing a little. His eyes were bright and Lily didn't think she'd ever seen him so happy.

The rest of them echoed his answer. "I want to live," Lily said.

"Then live you shall," Matilda told them. "Close your eyes," she said. Lily did. Then a warm wind swirled around them and she could suddenly smell salt water. Lily opened her eyes and found that the eight of them were standing in a loose circle on the deck of a galleon. She looked around, trying to identify where she was when a brown-haired girl with a sweet smile walked closer.

"Cap'n?"

Sirius spun around and grinned at her, "Yes, Kaylee?"

"We've made contact with both the Embassy and the incoming fleet of Her Majesty's Navy. They're going to be handling the pirates and the crew that mutinied that overtook the Embassy. They've given us leave to go ahead and make our way back to Britain to dock."

Sirius looked around at the rest of them in the circle and he nodded. "Sounds like a great idea. Can you let our Nav know?"

"Of course, Cap'n," Kaylee said. She smiled and gave a little wave to Pandora before turning and bouncing on her toes back the way she came.

"Come on, let's go below deck to my room. We've got a whole lot to talk about," Sirius said gesturing for them to follow. Lily smiled and followed behind him, enjoying the way her dress swished around her legs.

*** . * . ***

It didn't take long for the eight of them to settle into their lives properly.

For James, that meant going to a closed trial regarding the abandonment of his station and caravel HMA _Harriet_ , the destruction of HMA _The Dark Lord_ , and the missing members of the crew. James explained about the transmissions his crew received and how the message to transfer ships had been signed by his CO. He then explained that Master Navigator Beauregard Walsh had led a mutiny behind his back and his crew, at least the Special Division members of it, were responsible for the hijacking and bombing of the SkyShip Embassy. When asked where Walsh was now, James had said that he didn't know. After an investigation, Walsh was declared missing presumed dead.

James was put on probation for a year and a half with an entire Muggle crew for his behaviour. When the probation lifted, his third crew on HMA _Harriet_ was mixed, both Muggle and Special Division and his new Master Navigator happened to be Calypso Black, newly finished with Hogwarts and navigation courses.

When she boarded the airship in a navy blue and white day dress and wide-brimmed straw hat James couldn't help but smirk at her. "You're not going to give me any extra trouble, are you, Navigator Black?"

"Of course not, Captain Potter," she said, grinning at him and stepping out of line to stand in front of him. "Just the usual amount."

He laughed and bowed to her before escorting her to her cabin.

It took Hermione a little longer to find her place, mainly because Severus, Regulus, and her father all insisted she allow Regulus to court her. She told them all no for over a year so she could get more comfortable in her role as Ambassador before she finally agreed to let Regulus properly court her. They kept company for exactly six months before he proposed and they married the following spring. Lace, Petal, and Pan were ecstatic and planned almost everything for Hermione. She continued as an Ambassador even after her marriage and she and Regulus welcomed their first child, a boy born on the _Celestia_ , about seven months after their wedding.

Severus courted Lily for almost a year before they decided that they wanted different things. Lily craved the freedom of flying and the adventure of moving from place to place and Severus was content to stay at home and spend much of his time in his alchemy lab.

Going against convention, Lily took up a position on Sirius's airship soon after, even going so far as to wearing trousers and tying her hair back. After a few months, Lily moved her things into Sirius's quarters. When Hermione and Regulus's little boy was born, Lily pulled Sirius aside and mentioned that they might need to get married themselves sometime soon. Seemed one or the both of them must have forgotten the Contraception Spell and they would have their own little Black in eight months.

After his courtship with Lily ended, Severus thought he was doomed to bachelorhood in this life. He was content enough by himself and spent all of his time in his lab. When Master Prince passed away, Severus reconnected with Pandora at the funeral. They talked late into the night and Pandora promised to write him when she left. They corresponded for months before Severus decided to court her. Pandora's love for experimenting with spells and potions rivalled his love of creating them and they married the spring after Lily and Sirius's daughter was born.

Although there wasn't always happiness, peace, or contentment, they all got their second chance.

They lived.

**Author's Note:**

> AN: This story has been nominated for Best AU in the Shrieking Shack Society's Marauder Medals 2017! Voting is from October 1 through the 25. If you'd like to vote or read the other wonderful stories that have been nominated, visit the [Shrieking Shack Society](http://shriekingshacksociety.weebly.com/)!


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